


The Wonders of the Universe

by MochaMama



Category: South Park
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Aged-Up Character(s), All genitalia is humanoid, Alternate Universe - Space, Betaed, Eventual Happy Ending, Human Craig, Human Kenny, I really like writing when I'm crying, Loss/Mourning, M/M, Nymph/Alien Tweek, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plot like honestly a buttload of plot, Protective Kenny, Some death, Updating Slowly, lots of fluff, lots of sadness, self conciousness, slow build/slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-05-07 00:23:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14659317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MochaMama/pseuds/MochaMama
Summary: The Earth is in turmoil, but it's all Craig Tucker has known. His parents want more for him though, and they do their best to give their son his one dream.Who knows what things Craig will find as he travels the universe?-------------The one emotion Craig Tucker is well acquainted with is loneliness. He's never felt much of anything else since his heart died back on Earth with his family - that is until he meets a nymph named Tweek. He begins to learn of joy, love, and the magic of truly living.But why is the creature all alone?





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hold this fic very close to my heart, and I really hope you enjoy reading it as I've absolutely poured my heart into this thing and cry regularly while working on it, haha. Even if you decide it's not for you thanks for stopping by and giving it a chance! b(>.o)z

_ Approx Year 3500 _

_ Craig _

 

Most of humanity had forgotten about the stars. Maybe they seemed too mystical, too far away, or too dangerous, but the world had long ago decided to stop nearly all programs in place to learn about the cosmos. Instead, energy was focused on learning more about the planet they called home, or more specifically, how it could be manipulated. Scientific breakthroughs were a common occurrence for nearly a millenia - new discoveries, creations, and alterations made nearly every day.

Soon the Earth had been mostly used up, a desolate wasteland left in the place of a once vibrant land. The limited resources were fought over, and a world that had once been united in their search for knowledge found themselves pitted against one another. War waged across Earth for three centuries, only small pauses in the slaughter for groups to recoup before sending more people off to die.

The sky became polluted with the smog of unnatural creations and the smoke of burning bodies, and soon the stars began to fade from humanity’s memories.

Still, despite most having forgotten, some people remembered. Parents needed stories to give their children hope, to add light in otherwise dull lives that would most likely end too soon. Tales were passed down of the sky being a deep blue rather than the drab greys and browns that humanity now knew. And rarely, some told fantasies of twinkling lights that would brighten up the world above when night fell.

But they became just that. Fantasies. People continued to kill one another, children continued to starve, and the stars finally faded.

 

\---

 

Craig had always loved space.

He never got to see it, but his father told him stories. The older man would weave tales of other planets, holes of pitch black that would destroy everything in its path, a universe that continued to grow larger even as they spoke, and most importantly… He spoke of the stars.

It was difficult for Craig, imagining such vibrant colors outside of the paints that his sister played with. He wanted to believe his father, but it felt like something untouchable and unreal.

Sometimes Craig found himself sitting outside in the middle of the night, trying to ignore the stinging of sand and dirt in his eyes from the storms that would continue to ravage their land. He would stare up and hope, pray to a God that he didn’t believe in, and mostly just believe. Believe that the stars were real, and that maybe one day, one would peek at him from the darkness above to fill his heart with hope.

He never saw anything.

But he continued to try and believe in his father’s words. If he held onto hope of that dream, then maybe one day Craig really would see the wonders of the universe.

Something about the universe, the _vastness_ of it, was terrifying but also…exhilarating. The insignificance that came along with his obsession of the cosmos was dimmed in comparison to the pure awe he felt. He wanted to learn about every planet, every star, every hint of life that could have endured in this place of existence that he called home.

But the knowledge that humanity had spent so long acquiring was mostly gone, forgotten in the need for survival. Access to such files were under strict lockdown from the major controlling groups of the world to keep the upper hand against their opponents. And anyways, Craig couldn’t find it within himself to mind. He didn’t want to sit around and read of discoveries that another man made. No. He wanted to learn and experience everything for himself, wanted to feel the press of empty space all around him. And most of all, he wanted to be up there with the stars.

He would do anything for that dream.

 

\---

 

“Craig.”

The young man turned at the sound of his mother’s voice, already feeling tired at the mere tone she held. Craig was exhausted. Tired of being on the run from his nation’s enemies, tired of scavenging for food when their rations weren’t enough, and tired of holding onto an impossible dream from his childhood.

It must have been plain on his face, as his mother let out a soft sigh from her place in their doorway. She leaned against the frame, and Craig couldn’t help but stare at her frail physique. The woman had once been filled out, not large by any means but with a healthy amount of meat on her body. She now seemed to get thinner with each passing day, some of her ribs showing through her torn and dirty shirt. What was once flushed skin and beautiful blonde hair were both a pale, sickly color, and it seemed as if all the life had been drained from her eyes. Craig couldn’t help but feel responsible, as his mother often refused to eat until the rest of her family had their fill.

“I need you to go help your father,” she told him simply, voice small and weak.

He flipped her off in response, which she quickly returned in kind. Despite his rude gesture, it was what had to happen to keep his mother and sister fed, and so he begrudgingly rose to his feet. Craig pressed a small kiss to her forehead as he passed her, and the woman smiled as she watched him go.

Soon he arrived upon his father’s workshop, pushing his way through the door while yelling out a greeting.

“Down here!” Came the gruff response.

Craig made his way through the workshop, taking note of the strange control panel that his father never allowed him to touch. More parts had been added to it since he was last in the shop, but Craig knew it was pointless to ask about since his father wouldn’t explain anyways. So instead, he walked over to the large pit in the middle of his father’s workshop, jumping down it to fall into the lower bay of the foundry. He had to walk a few feet in the dark, but it was a path he was used to now, as his father was often down here, working on some secret project for their nation.

As he came upon his father and the bottom of the large metal contraption he worked on, the room became brighter as the lights surrounding his father came into view.

They set to work in silence aside from the occasional gruff voice of his father requesting a certain tool. Craig liked these moments, just him and his father and their tools. They worked well together, a quick and efficient duo.

“You know,” his father finally spoke up, “This thing is almost done.”

Craig peered at him curiously at that. They had been working on it for the past few years together, and Craig couldn’t help but wonder why the nation wouldn’t ask for more people to assist with the work to quicken the pace.

Working on this hunk of metal was a constant in his life, and he would be sad to see it go. Craig lovingly patted some of the cool metal like one would a dog, and let out a longing sigh.

“That’s good, although I’ll be sad to see it go,” he stated. “But I’m sure the nation will be proud of all your hard work.”

Craig smiled up at his father, who clapped a large hand onto the boy’s shoulder with a large smile of his own.

“Our hard work,” the man corrected. “Thanks, Craig. You’re a good man,” his father told him.

Craig’s heart swelled with pride at the words and he couldn’t stop the large goofy grin that spread across his face.

They worked a bit longer, but soon his father was excusing him to go back home and get some rest. He walked back to the house with excitement buzzing in his body, ready to see what the hell he had even been helping his father with this whole time. Craig plopped down in his room, disgusting and exhausted, and soon fell asleep to the thought of cool metal against his palm.

 

\---

 

Craig woke to the blaring of sirens ringing in his ears and was torn from his carefree dreams. They had practiced for this. No time to even think about the motion, he was jumping from his bed of torn and tattered clothes and rushing to his parent’s room. Empty. Panic gripped him, but he shook it off before he dashed madly to his sister’s room.

No one.

It began to feel difficult to breathe as he ran through their shabby excuse for a home, bursting outside with only enough time to wrap a scarf around his mouth and nose to protect from the sandstorm ravaging the land.

It was already too late. Bodies of his nation’s people were littered along the ground as far as he could see. Some were still alive, crawling and groaning as they tried to move towards him, their only sign of hope. He wanted to help, but he had a mission. Craig heard gunshots and shouts in the distance, but he let the noises fall away as he searched for three faces in particular.

“Mom! Dad! Tricia!” He shouted out into the destroyed land around him, voice drowned in the noise of battle.

No response came to his shrieks, but he continued to search, tripping over bodies as he went. He refused to look too closely at the faces after checking to make sure they didn’t match those of his family. If he committed them to memory, they’d be with him always. It was a burden too heavy to bare, and so Craig could only say a silent prayer for them in his head, hoping their deaths had been swift and would bring them proper release from this Hell on Earth.

He could have been searching for minutes or hours or days, but when he finally heard the voice of his sister, Craig’s blood ran cold.

“C-Craig,” she croaked.

Tricia’s voice was soft, but it seemed to cut through the sea of sound, and soon he was kneeling next to her. Her thin body was shaking, tremors running through her as she attempted to hold in the intestines spilling out her side.

It was too late, he knew that, _he fucking knew that,_ but he tried to hold her stomach together. He smiled down at her through the tears falling from his eyes, reassuring her that they’d be okay, and he continued to speak to her, even when he looked down to see lifeless eyes staring back at him.

It was fine. They’d be fine. He clutched the little body to his chest, walking aimlessly as he searched for…something. Craig couldn’t remember anymore, could only feel the quickly fading heat of the small body he held in his arms. Soon his legs gave out, and he couldn’t remember how to care. He fell to the ground, curling his body around Tricia’s and sobbing into her hair. It’d be okay. He would die right here in the dirt with her, and then they’d be okay.

Craig couldn’t register the sound of his father’s calls, or his father’s cries at the realization of what Craig was holding. But when strong large hands tried to pry him from his sister, his little Tricia, he screamed, fighting off the assailant.

The hands refused to loosen their grip, dragging him away from the small girl.

“Let me GO!” Craig bellowed.

His father screamed back, but he couldn’t hear. He could only hear the sound of his own heart breaking with every inch away from the dead girl.

Then the world went black around him, and he fell into the abyss, welcoming the release.

 

\---

 

Craig woke in an unfamiliar place, his head throbbing and body tired. He lifted a hand to the back of his head, but instead of hair his skin met with cool metal.

He was wearing a helmet, he realized. His eyes wandered down the rest of his body, and rather than his normal ratty clothes, Craig realized he was wearing an astronaut’s suit.

“I’m sorry, son.”

Craig’s head shot up at the voice of his father. The man wasn’t anywhere in this metal confinement with Craig as far as he could tell. He searched frantically until his eyes landed on a computer screen to the right of a small sturdy glass panel. The boy raised his gloved hands to rest upon the screen as if he could reach through it, staring in confusion at the picture of his father projected there.

“Dad?” Craig asked shakily. “I don’t understand…,” he trailed off.

“I’m sorry,” the man repeated to his child. “There’s no life left for you on this planet. So I wanted you to live your dream.”

Craig didn’t understand. His dream was to have his sister back, to live in an actual home together with his family and have no concern of how they would live another day. He opened his mouth to say as such, but was cut off by a loud hissing. The boy looked around in confusion, but noises were overlapping each other now, the metal beneath the seat he was in rumbling under his feet.

“Go see the stars,” his father told him.

Now he understood. Craig tried to move to tear off the straps holding his body down, but the rumbling was stronger now, jarring his entire body and giving him limited motion.

“Dad!” He screamed at the screen.

Craig wasn’t supposed to go live some childish dream, he was supposed to die right here on this godforsaken planet with his family. He was going to vanish after fifteen years of a shitty life, and that was _okay._ He had accepted his awful position in the world, and now even _that_ was being torn from him.

Tears streamed down his face as he screamed at his father, trying to make him understand. Craig saw the moisture reflected in his father’s own eyes as the man raised a shaking hand.

His father was flipping him off. If he wasn’t so angry or scared he would maybe laugh at the seemingly rude gesture, but instead he found comfort in the salute that was his family’s way of showing their love for one-another.

It was already too late, Craig could feel the emptiness beneath the ship as he was leaving Earth behind. The screen and his father’s sobs began to flicker in and out, the connection becoming unstable as the ship moved further and further away. The pressure and rumbling around him made it hard, but slowly he raised his own hand and showed his family’s favorite finger. He hoped his father could see, or at least knew, so that the man would know Craig loved him. Loved all of them.

Consciousness was slipping once more from the pressure around him, and he allowed his eyes to flutter shut, hoping that this time the darkness would bring him the release of death or the brightness of the stars.


	2. Ray of Hope

_ Approx Year 3500 _

_ Craig _

 

_Craig,_

 

_I’m sorry I never told you any of this earlier. Your mother and I knew you wouldn’t ever leave us without a fight, so this had been our secret over the past few years._

_If you’re reading this note, then that means we finally did it. We finally got you on your way to your dream. If we did, then I can only fear the worst for us down below, as this is our last shot at granting you and your sister happiness._

_There was never any project assigned to me by our nation. I worked for them long ago, which is how I was able to have the tools to fix this old ship up, but_ this _has been the project. Your mother and I have been setting our portions of the rations aside of our non-perishable foods to prepare you and Tricia for this, and get you two as far as we can. Your mother and I are sorry for the secrets, but I promise that there are no others._

_I’m sorry, son. I know some part of you is probably angry with us, but please understand your mother and I have always done what we think is the best for you and your sister. I never got to show you how this thing works properly, but you did help me fix it up, and I’ve left manuals to help you as much as I can._

_I’m sorry again, but there’s no life for you two down here. So go and live your dream, and be nice to your sister, okay?_

 

_I hope the stars are as pretty as you imagined._

_Love, Thomas Tucker_

 

\---

 

Craig reread the letter over and over again, clutching it tightly to his chest along with his discarded helmet. His blue eyes drifted to the empty seat beside him, and he felt his heart constrict all over again.

It was supposed to be him and Tricia. They were supposed to see the stars together. But now he sat alone, and Tricia was back on Earth, her dead body left to decay in the dirt.

The note had been taped to the outside of his suit, and in his confusion he hadn’t even noticed it until he came to. He opted to read the note first, avoiding looking out the small window in front of his face. Craig couldn’t look out that glass, not yet. He wasn’t ready.

But after he sat in silence, absorbing the last words he would have of his father, he wanted so badly to look. His head would being to lift on its own, before he would realize what was happening and force his gaze back down.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see. No, he wanted it more than anything else, a childhood dream that he once thought impossible now rearing its ugly head with more ferocity than ever before because now it could come _true._ Craig could finally get what he wanted since he could remember. But rather than feel excited, tendrils of fear had wrapped around his body.

This was his last shot at happiness. If the stars weren’t everything he had hoped for, then his dream would be gone as quickly as it became reality. The loss of his family still pumped through his veins, but he was mostly in shock, unable to process that the life he had been living up until now was gone forever.

It had to be now. He had to look now.

Craig vaguely remembered that his father told him that the night sky was more beautiful without light, that stars would burn brighter that way. With shaking hands, he undid the binds holding him to his chair, and gently floated down, ignoring the uneasy feeling that swirled in his stomach at the sudden loss of gravity’s effects on his body. He kicked off the bottom of the ship, soaring up to snuff out the source of light flooding what would now be his home.

He was plunged into darkness, except for a small bit of brightness that poured in from the window. Willing his heart rate to slow down, he made his way back to the raised chair in the middle of the ship, settling into it once more.

His eyes were closed now, having avoided letting them drift as he prepared. But now there was nothing stopping him. Craig took a deep, shaking breath, and slowly peeled his eyes open to train them out the window.

Craig’s jaw dropped at the sight in front of him. Millions of little lights were thrown across the sky, shining brighter than anything he had ever seen before. Colors he didn’t know existed dangled in the form of small illuminations in front of him, bursting forth from the pitch blackness that surrounded them. And even further in the distance still, so many lights were clustered together it seemed they brightened the entirety of space itself, in calming waves of purples and blues that blended together in a wide array of shapes.

Stars. These were the stars.

His nose and fingers were pressed to the glass now, eyes wide and unblinking as he drank in the space around him. This was as close as he could get, body pressed against the metal and glass so he wouldn’t miss a thing.

Craig was unsure of how long he kneeled there, pressed against the frame of a slowly-altering painting laid out just for him. Giddy laughter bubbled up from his chest, and soon it felt like he was the only thing in the universe making noise. Just a boy alternating between laughing and sobbing, with no one there to hear him or share the sights.

It was then that he allowed himself to peel away, falling back into the chair as salt-water poured from his eyes, spilling his sorrows. The tears fell away from his face, separating into small balls of water droplets. Craig watched them float around and above him, catching and reflecting the beauty illuminating from outside the ship. His eyes drifted to the screen that had once projected his father’s voice and face, but now was a dull grey, having gone silent. He doubled over and clutched his stomach, as if trying to physically push the mix of awe and painful emotions back into his body.

This was it now. It was just going to be him and the silence and the stars. Forever. No more of his father’s gruff responses, or his mother’s tired smiles, or his sister’s tinkling laughs.

Craig had the entire universe to himself, and he never felt so alone in his entire life.

 

\---

 

Craig glanced out the small pane of glass he’d been staring through for the past thirteen years. What once seemed like a universe full of possibility and wonder now only served as proof of the fact that soon, he would be damned.

His eyes flickered to the quickly dwindling food supply laid out below him. His parents did well in their preparation to send Craig and his sister off on their journey, but even still, time had caught up with him. There was maybe only a months worth of food even if he stretched it, and that was combined with the fact that Craig had already been starving himself to try and make the supply last.

He held a small metal rectangle in his hands, eyes occasionally flickering down to the flat screen and hoping for something to pop up.

It felt like such a waste. His father had been so prepared he’d been able to procure a ship that was able to turn actual dark matter into fuel, giving Craig the ability of an infinite trip through space, but it wasn’t going to matter. All of the things his father must have sacrificed to get his hands on this ship and these objects, and it was all going to be pointless when Craig wasted away.

The device Craig currently held had been created long ago, but was still in fairly good shape. It was able to find any celestial bodies within an insanely large radius, but the true beauty of the contraption was that it was made to alert its user of any planetoids humans could safely inhabit.

So, of course, it had gone silent.

In the past thirteen years, Craig had only found two habitable planets. They both took a long time to travel to, but it had always felt worth it when he was able to stock up on food, water, and feel solid ground beneath his feet once more.

The gathering for food part always made him feel uneasy. It wasn’t like there was a manual of do’s and don'ts that he could follow. He mostly worked off instinct and what didn’t smell too bad, taking small nibbles of edible looking plants and simply hoping he wouldn’t get sick or die.

After he would wait a while for any negative side effects to take hold, if none appeared then he would stuff his face. It always felt great, actually eating until he felt _full._ Most days were spent nibbling at his food supply with the goal of simply staving off the weakness and nausea, so actual meals felt like a gift from the Gods.

His stomach growled at the thought, and Craig squeezed his eyes shut to fight off the hunger. He focused his thoughts on the two planets he had explored once more, hoping to forget his starvation in the memories.

Craig hadn’t even run into another sign of life since he departed Earth, save for the vegetation. Both times he had realized the planets were deserted, Craig had been torn somewhere between heartbreak and relief. Relief that there was nothing there to hurt him, and heartbreak that no one was there to drink in the beauty of the celestial bodies he stood upon.

It was fascinating, stepping foot on to an entirely new planet. They had both seemed so much like the old pictures of Earth he viewed as a child. It was painful to think about, the fact that space exploration had been canceled so long ago, when other habitable planets were out there, waiting to be discovered.

Craig’s single solace was found in the fact that this meant the planets were left untouched, their beauty unaltered by the plundering of humans.

He removed himself from the chair and floated down towards the control panel. Craig opened up the map that was built into the panel, recording all of the places he had traveled to in a large, beautiful star map. The days had always seemed to melt together, his only way to keep track of “time” being the little internal clock his father had built into the spaceship. Craig could only hope it hadn’t been that long ago that his feet had kissed solid ground as his eyes scanned the map, searching for the second planet he’d visited.

When he found it, his stomach dropped. Two years. It would take two years to travel back to the celestial body. There hadn’t been many edible things there anyways. Nearly everything made him sick, which was why he was in this current predicament. With barely anything to stock up on from the planet, and no reason to stay, Craig had departed with the hope of finding a place more suitable to his needs after only a year.

He berated himself for the millionth time for leaving the first planet. It hadn’t been much of anything special, but it was plentiful with food and water. Craig wasn’t happy there, he was only content. So after around four years had passed, the boredom and loneliness began to eat away at him, and he decided to depart at twenty-two. It was an itch to explore that had spurred him on at the time, but now all he wanted was the safety and basic necessities that his first stop had provided.

Returning to the second planet had been his last sliver of real hope. Now, there was nothing to do but move forward and _hope,_ but in reality he knew soon he’d be dead.

He drifted back to the window, watching the lights pass him by. His face was reflected back at him through the glass, and he watched as his lips tugged into a soft smile.

At least he would die with the stars.

 

\---

 

Craig woke to a loud, horrible beeping, and for one moment he thought he was back on Earth, sirens blaring in his ears. He panicked, limbs flailing as he rolled along the small cushions he used as a bed. His head hit metal and he cursed, angry that he had to sleep in a corkscrew position in what was essentially a file cabinet so he wouldn’t float around.

_Wait. Beeping._

Hope surged so powerfully through his body that he physically jolted, his heart ready to burst from his chest. Craig quickly exited his sleeping quarters, scrambling quickly as was possible in nearly zero gravity to retrieve the rectangular contraption.

With shaking fingers he finally clasped it, bringing the screen to his face. There were several planets in the solar system he found himself in currently, but one in particular was highlighted, a little exclamation point above it.

He tapped his finger on the screen, opening up the details of the planet. His heart rate was so quick Craig could feel it pounding in his ears, but he tried to focus on the words in front of him rather than the noise.

_It was habitable._

Craig let out a victory cry of pure relief, tears springing to his eyes. It would take two months to get to. He glanced at the food supply once more, and steeled his resolve.

He would make the food last. He was not going to die until he got to that planet.


	3. Mournful Melody

_ Approx Year 3500 _

_ Craig _

 

Craig stared out the little glass window for the millionth time, staring down at the planet he was nearing.

It was _huge,_ one of the largest he had seen so far. But, it mostly seemed covered in water, various shades of blue washing over the entire thing with only small patches of green and purple standing out against it. At least it wouldn’t be that hard to pick a location despite the sheer size of the planetoid.

The large celestial body also had three moons, two more than his own home planet. One looked a lot like Earth’s, a drab grey with small cracks and craters. The second was oddly shaped, looking more like a meteoroid than a moon. It appeared to have its own atmosphere, a strange mix of greens and yellows swirling together around the body. The third moon was the smallest and strangest. It was mostly shrouded in darkness but seemed to be covered in little gems that caught the light around it to shimmer and shine.

Craig was giddy with excitement, ready to reach the planet and hopefully find something to eat. He could only take in the beauty of the multiple moons orbiting nearby for a moment, before the ship’s control panel was alerting him that he would be penetrating the planet’s atmosphere soon.

He floated down to the panel, grabbing his helmet from nearby just in case things got bumpy. The ship had already scanned the sphere, and was now prompting him for a landing location. He scrolled along the projection of the globe, turning it this way and that to try and decide a spot. So much of it was covered in water. Craig let out a frustrated huff through his nose, before catching sight of a strange patch. Where most of the planet seemed to be sprinkled with land masses of green and purple, there was a strange lone island that was largely pink, surrounded by a ring of blues and purples. The color wasn’t what stood out to him though, it was the fact that the lone hue seemed to be springing upwards, like a large pink mountain where the rest of the planet seemed mostly flat. It also seemed to be the largest patch of land Craig could find, most of the masses being smaller islands. He clicked on a part of the blue and green ring surrounding the strange hue, deciding to play it safe but still have the option to walk to the pink mountain later.

Luckily his father’s ship had been equipped with great gear, as it essentially operated itself with minimal human intervention needed. Craig stayed near the control panel though, strapping himself to the bar of the raised chair in preparation for the jostling to come.

He leaned his head back and sighed, willing the hunger to subside. Two hours and forty three minutes was the expected time to breach the atmosphere and kiss the ground.

 _I’ve waited this long,_ he tried to remind himself.

Still, the sharp pain in his stomach persisted, feeling as if his body was gnawing on itself. Craig smiled at the thought, his stomach basically _was_ eating itself after all. He fluttered his eyes closed, one last sigh escaping his lips as he decided to rest. If he slept he wouldn’t have to feel the insistent pain of his own starvation.

 

\---

 

The moment the ship hit the ground, Craig jolted awake at the slight rumbling. Quickly he removed the straps securing him to the ship, cursing as the excited shaking of his fingers elongated the task. When he was finally free he jumped to his feet, rushing to throw the tiny door of the ship open.

Craig crawled from his metal cage, falling from the ship to sprawl out on the ground beneath him. A sigh of relief passed his lips, enjoying the feeling of solid earth beneath him. His eyes had been closed in bliss, but he finally allowed them to open as he moved to sit up, taking in the scene around him.

The vegetation under him was very similar to grass, comfortable to rest upon but a little itchy, and with the stark difference of the fact that most of it was calming blue. To his left was a thicket of trees, but they weren’t particularly large, only slightly taller than Craig himself and with soft lavender leaves. Strange brighter purple loops surrounded and fell from the grey trunks of the trees, but he decided he would see what that was about another day.

Craig turned his head to the right and couldn’t help the gasp he let out.

 _That’s_ what the pink was.

Off in the distance he could see the mix of grey and an explosion of pink that took up his entire right field of vision. A tree, if something that large could even still be considered as such, stood tall and proud, towering miles into the air. The grey of its trunk seemed like it could fit a whole other planet within it, not only being tall but extremely thick. From his current distance Craig couldn’t make out what it was, but blue circled the trunk all the way up to the peak of the tree, hugging the stalk tightly. The top of the tree was covered in pink, different hues of the color splattered along the leaves and branches.

He would have stared in awe at the tree all day, but the starvation was gnawing at him again, sapping his energy away. Craig needed to find something edible, and he needed to do it fast.

Craig ducked back into the ship, equipping a small watch that served to keep track of time as well as lead him back to the ship as long as he stayed within a certain radius. The ship also held a compartment to store water, and so he grabbed a bottle from his supplies to refill it with the wonderful liquid. He bent down to check how much was left, frowning when he read it was only about 5 gallons. In his daze of constant hunger over the past two months, he had been rapidly depleting the water supply, using any means to at least _trick_ his stomach into feeling full. He would need to find some water too, then.

Craig crawled out of the ship once more, quickly standing up to begin his search. Now that the amazement had passed, besides his hunger, all he could think about was that it was too damn _hot._ This planet was absolutely scorching, and Craig didn’t feel he had much left in his system to part with any extra fluids.

Cursing, he stripped off the suit, sighing at the instant relief of less layers. Underneath the suit he wore only a plain navy blue shirt and jet black pants, the same he’d been in the day he’d departed Earth. He quickly worked to remove the shirt as well, wrapping it around his head to block some of the ferocity of the scorching sun.

It was going to be a long day.

 

\---

 

It had been less than twenty-four hours, and Craig was already fed up with this dumb planet.

It was around hour eighteen of his search, and the day didn’t show any sign of ending anytime soon. The sun still hung high in the sky, beating down on him and draining all the energy from Craig’s body.

There had been no sign of food, only trees and water.

 _So much water,_ he thought angrily. It was the one thing he wasn’t going to have to worry about. This was the largest body of land on the entire planet, but it was still cracked and fractured with rivers and creeks. It only made traveling by foot all the more difficult, but with no other options he figured his best option was to pick a river and follow it.

Craig walked with the flow of the water, wondering what it would let out to. It was a gorgeous color, a clear and crystalline blue that allowed him to see all of the rocks and plants that rested beneath the surface.

After walking for another few hours, Craig dropped to his knees, taking a moment to rest. He crawled closer to the river and cupped his hands, pulling the clear liquid to his lips and drinking his fill. It was wonderfully chilly even with the sun shining so bright, and Craig contemplated taking a dip to cool off. But, he needed to keep walking soon and didn’t want his pants to hang heavily to his body, so instead he opted to simply dunk his head in.

He gripped a secure rock to support his weight before pushing his face past the surface. It felt wonderful, the chilled water cooling his cheeks and the back of his neck. His inky black hair floated gently in the direction of the flowing river, and Craig slowly opened his eyes under the depths.

Since it was fresh-water, having his eyes open and unprotected under the depths didn’t sting, and he couldn’t be more grateful as he was uncertain he’d be unable to close them again anyways. He thought that the clear water allowed him to see all that the river had to offer, but he was terribly wrong.

Blossoms of soft, pale purples and pinks swayed lazily, their long tendrils resembling pictures of kelp Craig had seen in the past. The water also went deeper in some areas than he had previously saw, and it darkened quickly where the sun was unable to reach. But in its place, the rocks that rested at the bottom had small shining lights that pulsed in the darkness, a wide array of colors blinking up at him. It was like seeing the stars for the first time again.

He held his breath as long as he could, staring at the strange lights until his lungs were screaming. Finally he slipped his eyes closed once more before quickly removing his head from the water with a loud gasp. Craig gulped air quickly, preparing himself for another dunk so he could continue to look under the water.

Then he heard it. Off in the distance was a noise unlike anything he’d heard in the past few years of solitude.

It was singing.

There were no words to the song, it was something between humming and a constant wail, but the rise and fall of the tone mixed with the holding of notes made Craig certain it was a song.

For a moment, he forgot about his water bottle next to the river, forgot about the fatigue in his muscles, forgot about _food_ . The sounds were coming perpendicular from the river, and he found himself walking, no, _running_ towards the noise. His heart beat so hard in his chest it was painful, excitement and fear pulsing through his veins. It had been so long since Craig had interacted with another living thing, and even longer still since he’d heard another’s song.

Finally he came across a pond, a small but beautiful thing that was overshadowed by a cliff with a tiny waterfall spilling forth. In the middle of the water was a medium sized tree that grew from below the surface, as if the pond existed simply to engulf it. The roots twisted into the rock and earth covered by water, but he could see a blue mossy trail that twisted around the trunk like a ribbon from top to bottom. With each note the moss would begin to pulse and glow brightly, fading when the song did.

There, standing in the water before the tree, he saw the figure.

It was an alien.

The creature looked human at first glance, but as Craig came closer, he began to see the true features of the life form in front of him.

It looked very similar to a human boy, a short figure with a thin and frail build. The tone of its skin was the first unusual feature that caught Craig’s eye, as he quickly noticed the skin was tinted a pale, translucent green. Despite the hue and paleness, the creature did not look sickly, energy seeming to hum under its skin that made its body glow with life. Messy unkempt hair adorned the top of its head, a strawberry blonde that seemed almost blinding. Plants and vines were wrapped all around its body, bright lush tones of greens, pinks, and blues that only made the creature more stunning. Craig couldn’t help but think the life-form looked familiar. It was off to him, but not actually _alien._ Some memory of Earth was in the back of his mind, but he just couldn’t seem to place it.

The raven was pulled from sifting through his memory as he realized that the soft, melodic hum he had been hearing was obviously pouring forth from this creature. _It_ was the one causing the strange glowing effect on the tree in front of it with that song. The noise grew louder as he came closer, and he could now _hear_ that it was clearly not human. It was a song made of a low rumbling that the creature would then raise into a mournful keen.

Craig thought it strange, that even though he was unable to understand the content of the creature’s song, he knew it was a sorrowful melody. Every wail that fell from the being’s lips was dripping with sadness, and the man felt his heart squeeze with every note.

It was a ditty of loneliness. This planet he had discovered that just moments ago seemed to be bursting at the seams with life now seemed like a desolate wasteland. The heartbeat of the celestial body that Craig stood upon had gone quiet, as if the whole world was listening only to this creature’s cries.

For the millionth time in the past thirteen years, he felt it - Loneliness. It was an emotion that was explained to Craig many times on his home planet, but constantly being surrounded by his family, he had never experienced the emotion back then. It always seemed a foreign concept to him as a boy. His thirst for knowledge and need to provide for his family had isolated him from others for as long as his memory would serve, but he could never remember the solitary nature bothering him. He had worked better alone or with his father, never having to bother with niceties or forced to worry about the needs of someone he wasn’t invested in.

It was only at the beginning of this journey, after the horrible departure from his family, that he had felt the emotion. It was something foreign and heavy and _painful,_ but he had grown used to it with time. He had to, so as not to throw his parent’s sacrifice into their faces because of his own inability to deal with grief.

And after thirteen years of drifting alone in the cosmos, Craig had assumed he would always be on his own. After the events of Earth, after suffering the loss of the few people he _did_ care about, the fact that he was alone was one of his greatest comforts in life.

But now, listening to less than a minute of this creature’s song, he felt destitute. A piercing cold shot through his body, and Craig couldn’t help but crumble to his knees, captivated by the beauty in front of him. A surge of feelings the man had forgotten existed came re-surfacing, clutching at his chest and leaving him winded.

All this time alone, isolating his emotions into a small forgotten storage unit in his heart, he had no need for sadness or anger or loneliness. It had just been him and the allure of the mysteries around him, and that was always more than enough. But not now.

A sob tore from his throat at the rush of emotion that had coursed through his body, and he immediately wished he could take the action back. The melody broke off, and he was unable to stop the next cry that fell from him at its loss.

The creature turned fully towards him for the first time. Its eyes were a pale, misty green the entire way through, and even without a pupil trained upon him, the man knew the being was staring straight at him. Its body was shaking, with rage or with fear, he couldn’t say, but the tremors only made Craig feel worse. He hadn’t meant to bring this creature any distress, he only wanted to share in the beauty of the mournful melody it sang.

Craig cringed, falling backwards and trying to seem non-threatening as he slowly lifted his hands to wipe away the wetness from his cheeks. The creature cocked its head at this and mimicked the motion, raising a ghastly hand to its own cheek. The shuddering had paused, the being’s green body still once more.

“I-I’m sorry, your song was just very beautiful.”

Craig mentally kicked himself. What the hell was he doing talking to it? This was a new planet, it’s not like the creature was going to speak _English._

When Craig dropped his hand from his face, the creature did too. It didn’t seem as scared now, merely curious, and so the man shakily stood to his feet. To his relief, there was no reaction. A surge of bravery went through his body, and he took a small step forward.

It was the wrong move. The creature opened its mouth, showing small teeth before snarling and wading from the water to hop away in the trees.

“Hey, wait!” Craig called.

His voice echoed off the cliff surrounding him, but there was no sound in response. Craig smacked a hand to his forehead, growling at himself.

He was so _stupid._ This was the first bit of life he’d seen on this planet aside from plants. But he had allowed himself to be consumed by emotion and grief and gave his position away. Now the creature was probably never going to return, and it would be ages before he’d even see the hint of more life.

Tired and pissed off with himself, Craig wondered if he should settle for the night. If night ever came, anyways. The sky was wide open and bright above him, un-obstructed except for that large, pink tree off in the distance, but there was still no sign of the sky darkening.

Looking at the towering object in the distance made him remember the sapling in front of him, and he turned his attention to it once more, studying the strange moss that covered it. Craig stripped off his pants, tossing them aside and letting out a sigh of relief. He still wore his boxers, but he opted to keep them on, not wanting to completely expose himself on this strange planet.

He waded into the water, swimming until he was in the same location as the creature had been. Here the roots from the tree were numerous and strong, and he stood on one as he assumed the singing being from before had done.

It was strange, standing here. There were plenty of trees in this place, water and trees were the only thing Craig felt he had seen enough of, but none of them felt like this. Even though the moss had gone dim with the departure of the creature, the wood still seemed to have an energy humming around it, just as the green being had. It also had a pink top just as the larger tree off in the distance, unlike the grey and purple trees surrounding the area. Craig reached out to smooth a palm over the trunk, and there was a faint glow in response that rippled along the tree before quickly snuffing out.

He cocked his head to the side, curious. Craig was unable to make the same sounds from the song he was lucky enough to hear earlier, but still he tried to hum to the tree. Nothing happened for a moment, but then the small pulsing light was there again, running along the cerulean moss. It was more subtle than the ripples that the green being had elicited earlier, but Craig could see it clear as day, and felt a small bit of warmth ignite against his hand that made him feel giddy.

It was a _tree,_ but this was the most he had interacted with another life form in years, and it felt almost human. It was as if they were talking through song and vibrant pulsations of color, and even though he didn't quite understand what was going on, Craig felt happy. It was nice, singing to the sapling and running his palm over the strangely smooth wood. He didn’t feel lonely.

But then a wave of nausea hit him, and he lost balance on the root, falling forward and catching himself on the trunk. The lights pulsed frantically, more of an erratic flickering than before. As Craig steadied himself, the lights gradually calmed once more, returning to a calm state.

Craig smiled, one hand clutching at his empty stomach and the other balancing him against the tree.

“You wouldn't happen to know where there’s food, right?” He asked the tree.

As expected, no response came, only another surge of erratic flickering that passed quickly.

“Thought not,” Craig sighed.

He patted the tree affectionately before standing unsteadily on his own two feet again. This planet was amazing, but if he wanted to see more, he’d need to keep moving. He was too weak.

Craig slid into the water, preparing himself to swim to the bank when another wave of nausea hit him, hard. Panic set in immediately, he could swim but its not like he was great at it, especially not when he felt so weak. He turned over to float on his back, forcing himself to breathe deeply and slow his erratic heartbeat. The hunger was all encompassing at this point, he felt so weak and feverish that he wasn't sure he'd even be able to continue his search.

Still on his back, Craig floated his way back to the shore, only using his arms to weakly push into the water and steer him to his destination. Once he was close enough he spun to stand, slowly walking to solid ground. His vision felt fuzzy, but he knew he needed to at least make it out of the water.

Even walking proved to be too harsh a task, as he soon was tripping and falling on the rough rocks that lined the bank. He caught himself on his hands, only taking a moment to watch how his elbows shook with the exertion of holding up his own body. Craig crawled the rest of the way, sprawling out onto the earth belly up when he finally managed to pull himself out of the water.

The dip had been refreshing, but now with his weakened state the sun felt as if it was beating directly onto his body, making him feel even more lightheaded.

_This is it. I'm going to die from starvation after talking to a fucking tree._

His vision was focusing in and out, blotchy and with a darkness closing in on the edges of his sight. He ran a hand over his chest and stomach, noticing how his ribs jutted out sharply, skin pulled taut over them just as he had seen on his mother so long ago. The thought made him sad, this is what she and his father must have gone through to give him his dream.

Tears threatened to spring from the corners of his eyes, but he was unsure if even had the energy to cry. His eyes had closed now, too weak to even hold them open properly. Or maybe they were open and he simply couldn't see now. Craig couldn't tell the difference anymore.

Consciousness was threatening to slip away from him, and the pain was beginning to make him crave the darkness. It wouldn't matter after he was dead. He'd seen the stars, and that was his dream, wasn’t it? He could die happy, right?

It was taking longer than he wanted though. He felt on the brink of passing out, but though he felt so weak, some part of him was still clinging hopelessly to consciousness.

_Just hurry up and let me die already._

Then he heard a noise, a small coo from far off. Craig wanted to sit up and look, see what was making the sound, but his body wouldn't move. All he could do was let out a pitiful groan.

There was shuffling off on his left, but he still couldn't will his head to just turn to the side. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever move again, until something touched his face. His eyes finally flew open, and he saw it was the creature from before.

The strange green eyes were examining him cooly, and when they locked gazes the green being jolted, snapping its fingers away from his face and being overtaken by a full body shudder. It shook for a time before the quivering gradually decreased, calming down once more. Craig's vulnerable state seemed to bring some comfort to the alien, as it was so close now but didn't seem to assess him as much of a threat.

A palm was smoothed over his bare chest, and Craig let out a whine, unsure of what would happen to him. Then the creature was leaning its face towards his, and his foggy mind was unable to process what was happening to him until soft lips pressed to his own.

_What the fuck?_

He wanted to fight, but his body was still too weak, not to mention he was absolutely caught off guard, so all he could manage was another groan. There was no reason for this _thing_ to be kissing him. How the hell did it even know what a kiss was?

But the groan had caused Craig’s lips to part, and now he understood, as he felt something pressed from the creature’s mouth into his own. It was like a liquid, but thicker, and the taste was _heavenly._ The hand on his chest began gently caressing his skin, as if the being was trying to reassure the man that he’d be okay.

The substance that was sliding down his throat could have been poison, but he didn't _care,_ it just felt good to have something so delicious and heavy making its way through his system. He swallowed it all eagerly, and felt a wave of energy pass through his body, because he had _hope._

His hand twitched at his side, and the creature looked at him quizzically, still hovering its face near his own.

“M-more,” Craig croaked, and he prayed that it understood.

The face was gone now, and Craig didn’t know if it was coming back or not. A frustrated cry left his lips, and he squeezed his eyes shut once more, focusing on the wonderful sensation of the substance settling in his stomach. It hadn’t been much, but it was more than Craig had in weeks, and more delicious than anything he’d had his entire lifetime.

Soon slender fingers were brushing his skin once more, and this time Craig waited eagerly for the small mouth to press to his own. When he felt the kiss he parted his lips immediately, moaning at the delectable liquid being passed to him.

After the creature fed him for the second time, Craig simply laid there, taking it in. His body wanted more, but he felt certain it would be a bad idea. He’d grown so used to barely eating if at all, Craig feared that too much would be counterproductive. So instead he was content with the amount settling in his stomach, his eyes fluttering closed as a pleased sigh left his body.

As time passed he was sure the creature had left, but was too tired to look around, until he heard a soft hum. He blinked blearily, turning his head to see the creature sat next to him, legs pulled to its chest and eyes closed as it sang.

Craig smiled, and allowed the melody to help him drift off to sleep. When he felt long skinny fingers run through his hair, he couldn't be sure if it was real or a dream. But it didn't matter, because he didn't feel lonely, and the song didn't sound sad.


	4. A New Friend

  _Approx Year 3500_

_ Craig _

 

It had been a long time since Craig had been woken up by another living thing. So when foreign hands shook his body, trying to rouse him, the man only grumbled and rolled away. There was an annoyed huff beside him, and now the hands were poking and prodding at his flesh. Craig squeezed his eyes shut tighter, annoyed.

“Lemme sleep more…,” he said drowsily.

What he wasn't expecting was a response.

“No-uh, you need eat,” a squeaky voice said beside him, slowly enunciating every word.

Craig shot up at that, his body aching everywhere. But the pain was the last thing on his mind as he stared at the same creature from before. It was looking at him with concern, trying to push him to lie back down, but he was not having any of that.

“W-wait, stop,” Craig said, grabbing the thin wrist.

The creature let out a small shriek at the contact, before realizing that it wasn’t being attacked. It cocked its head to the side in confusion, but stopped trying to push him. Craig took a deep breath, trying to clear his sleep hazed mind.

“You speak… _English?”_ He asked incredulously.

It thought on his words for a moment before shaking its head. The creature pressed a finger into his chest.

“You are human. I,” it gestured to itself, “speak human,” the creature finished simply.

Craig stared at the being, more confused than ever.

“How?” He asked dumbly.

“Old humans teach.”

Now he was _really_ confused. The space exploration had been put to a stop for… Well, Craig wasn’t sure how long, but it had been a _long_ time. When did other people come here? How long must they have stayed to teach this thing, and presumably more of its kind, the English language? Were any humans still there?

And why wasn’t it recorded in history at all?

He must have sat there trying to take in the information for too long, as the creature began to look worried again and lightly touched his cheek.

“Okay?” It asked.

Craig pulled himself from his thoughts, smiling at the strange, kind being in front of him. He nodded, deciding he would try for more information on the topic of humans later. Although the creature spoke English, it obviously didn’t do so all that well. Every word seemed uncomfortable as it fell from the pale lips, like it wasn't sure how to operate the tongue in its mouth. But, Craig was curious about one more thing.

“What exactly... are you?” He asked, hoping the question didn’t sound as rude as he felt asking it.

The being responded with a gutteral noise, a foreign language he didn’t understand. Patiently, Craig shook his head before continuing.

“No, what did the humans call you?”

“Oh,” it said brightly. “Nymph.”

_Now_ he knew why the creature looked familiar. On Earth Craig had seen old books filled with strange mythologies, weird magical creatures and Gods filling the pages. Nymphs had always stood out to him as a child, as he wondered what it would be like to reside within a lush garden or swamp, bursting with plant life and vibrant colors. But there was one thing different than what he remembered in the books.

“You’re… Not a girl? I thought all Nymphs were girls… You understand gender, right?” Craig asked.

He hoped that the ‘old humans’ had explained to the nymph, as he wasn’t sure that he had the ability. Craig had also been trying to ignore the naked state of the creature, but trying to point out its gender might make that kind of difficult. Luckily, his worries were not needed.

The nymph nodded, a pained expression on its face as it clutched a vine wrapped around its chest. “Defective. Boy,” it said softly.

Craig frowned at that. Being a boy didn't mean it - no, _he_ \- was defective. But it obviously meant something to the male, his eyes reflecting hurt and looking… Worried? The nymph was already a tiny thing, but he seemed even smaller now, looking up at Craig with large eyes and twirling his fingers nervously. Craig opened his mouth to ask the nymph why he thought so lowly of himself, but was cut off.

“Oh, oh! Food,” the nymph hummed, mood shifting quickly as he hopped up and turned away from Craig.

Craig looked down at his stomach. He _was_ pretty hungry again, still feeling rather weak and nauseous. The raven quickly snatched up his previously discarded pants, calling after the boy while tugging them on.

“Wait!”

The nymph stopped walking then, turning and giving him a quizzical look. Craig smiled sheepishly, pointing to himself.

“I’m Craig. What’s your name?”

The boy smiled at him then, reaching a hand out and grasping Craig’s fingers with his own pale green ones, yanking the raven closer to him.

“Tweek!”

And with that the nymph began walking along, chanting their names with Craig in tow. The raven smiled, watching the boy in front of him and giving the hand a gentle squeeze.

_Tweek._

For the first time in thirteen years, Craig had a friend.

\---

“Uh… What are we doing?”

Tweek had dragged Craig all around the trees surrounding the pond, cooing and humming at one before moving on to another. The man wasn’t exactly someone pressed for time in normal situations, but he wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep. If the fact that night had _finally_ begun to fall was any indication, then it must have been a while, and his hunger was now coming back with a vengeance. Not wanting to pass out again, he decided to finally figure out the plan after fifteen minutes.

Hearing Craig speak, the nymph stopped and peered back at him curiously.

“Get… food?” Tweek asked more than stated.

Craig huffed and ran a hand through his hair. “I _get_ that, but how the hell is humming at trees going to do any good?”

Tweek made a noise that Craig thought was supposed to be a scoff, but he couldn’t be sure. The nymph walked the short distance to another tree, murmuring to it softly and running an olive palm over the trunk. Slowly one of the strange, bright purple loops Craig had noticed before was unfurling, not actually a loop at all, but instead a vine that was extending itself towards Tweek. The nymph eagerly grasped the end of it, bringing it up to his mouth and catching some of the bright gold liquid that Craig could see leaking from there.

Craig watched him silently, examining the creature again. He was quite a bit shorter than Craig himself, nearly a head smaller. He wasn’t particularly bulky either, a scrawny creature with little muscle definition. The nymph was still stunning, flowers ornamenting his blonde hair and small vines wrapped around his body. But the glow that previously seemed to vibrate under the skin of the nymph had dulled, the green of Tweek’s skin looking a lot less vibrant. The raven wondered if it was his fault.

The nymph caught his eye, waving him over silently. Craig shuffled closer, looking rather incredulous at the vine. Tweek gave him a reassuring smile, shifting the vine to Craig’s mouth.

“Humans call honey. Only need to ask,” Tweek said sweetly, flashing a bright toothy smile.

Craig quirked an eyebrow. “Ask the trees?” He questioned doubtfully.

Tweek nodded.

Giving the end of the vine a tentative lick, Craig realized it was the same substance the nymph had fed him earlier. The raven greedily slurped all of the liquid he could until hands were tugging him back by his belt loops, pulling him away from the vine. Tweek was staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Not so a lot!”

“Not so much?” Craig asked, stifling a laugh.

“Sure. Ask other tree,” Tweek scowled at him.

Craig shrugged, flipping the nymph off and looking around. His eyes landed on the tree in the middle of the pond, and he smiled to himself as he remembered the pretty blue glowing. The raven began to walk towards it, but was stopped once more.

“What now?”

“Not _that_ tree!”

“Why not? I _like_ that tree,” Craig replied, indignant.

Tweek looked absolutely horrified. “No food to give!” He shrieked.

The nymph was shaking, fingers quivering against Craig’s skin. The creature pulled his hands back up to tug at the blonde locks atop his head, some of the flowers falling from his hair. Craig wasn’t sure why it was such a big deal, but examining the shuddering in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel a little bad. Tweek seemed to get worked up easy, large pupil-less eyes staring at him in panic while his small frame was racked with shakes.

“Hey, calm down dude,” Craig spoke gently.

Tweek looked up at him, hands still threatening to tear out his hair. Craig closed the distance between them, gently reaching to untangle Tweek’s fingers from the locks. The nymph looked down, eyes filling with shame and tears.

“Sorry,” Tweek sniffed. “Dude.”

Craig couldn't help the laugh that bubbled past his lips, making the green boy jump back.

“What?” Tweek mumbled bashfully.

Craig only shook his head in response with a soft smile, ruffling the blonde hair beneath his fingers. Tweek’s previous embarrassment seemed to dissipate at that, a contented coo leaving his lips as he nuzzled into Craig’s touch.

The raven couldn’t help but feel lucky that his new nymph friend didn’t mind being touched. It had been so long since he touched someone, or had someone touch him. There was a strange comfort in physical proximity, and the closeness that he had taken for granted back on Earth was now one of his greatest cravings.

Craig eyed the green boy, curiosity nipping at him again. Not only did Tweek seem to not mind being touched, he seemed to seek it out. Was Tweek as touch starved as he was? Or simply a clingy person… Thing… Whatever.

The raven diverted his eyes away from the nymph, deciding not to dwell on it for now. His hand untangled from the blonde hair, falling to his side once more. He was the one who had broken the touch first, but already he felt his palm was searing, twitching to touch the soft locks once more.

“Is there any food here besides honey?” Craig asked, looking anywhere but toward the nymph.

Tweek nodded enthusiastically, and began moving away to show him. Some of the plants and flowers Craig had been walking by apparently _did_ hold food, but either had to be pried out of the bulbs protecting them or… _asked_ to share, as Tweek put it.

Craig felt odd as Tweek placed his long green fingers on his lower bare back, pushing him towards a pink plant, all while urging him to ask for food. It was a large thing, and he could clearly see where the fruit - or would it be a vegetable? - was held, a large heavy bulb resting at the base with thick leaves of pink and green. The top twisted into a beautiful flower in bloom, various soft pinks shining on the smooth petals.

Blue eyes glanced doubtfully at green. The nymph urged him once more, pushing him gently forward. Craig huffed and began to extend a hand, but felt so awkward he instinctively recoiled again. It was a _plant._ He wasn't going to talk to it and expect a response.

“This is stupid!” The raven complained. “Does it even understand _English_?”

Tweek grumbled, kneeling down next to the flower. He caressed a petal, rolling a soft noise out of his throat that caused the plant to twitch. Tweek then turned back to Craig, grasping his hand and pulling him gently down to kneel beside him.

“No language,” Tweek explained. “But she understand… Feeling?” The nymph tried to piece together an explanation, before sighing and urging him once more with a soft smile. “Just try. Okay?”

Craig gazed at the plant again, raising his hand not in Tweek’s grasp to rest upon a pink petal. He trailed his fingers lower, tracing a leaf that wrapped around the protected bulb.

“Uh,” Craig cleared his throat, still feeling awkward, but less so. “I was wondering if… You'd share your fruit?” He asked the plant softly.

Nothing happened for a moment, and Craig immediately felt the embarrassment and anger flare up. This was _stupid,_ and _he_ was stupid, talking to some plant that barely even qualified as living, kneeling beside some alien like they were _friends-_

The plant suddenly gave another twitch, the thick leaves at the base unfurling slowly. The flower was unraveling, falling apart in a completely beautiful and mesmerizing way that made Craig stare without blinking. Finally the leaves had fallen away completely, revealing the squishy looking orange fruit within. It looked slick and sticky, but the aroma wafting from it was sweet, and made Craig’s mouth water.

His blue eyes slid to Tweek, who was looking not at the plant, but at him. A wide smile split the green boy’s face, white teeth gleaming. The nymph released his hand and nodded his head towards the fruit, motioning for him to try it.

Craig slowly reached towards the base of the bulb, scooping up the fruit and snatching his hands back quickly for fear of the plant snapping shut. No such thing happened, as it wasn’t until his hands were gone from the flower that the leaves slowly started to re curl, wrapping tightly around each other once more.

He could only hold the squishy fruit in amazement, before slowly lifting it to his lips and taking a small bite.

Juice gushed into his mouth, dribbling down along his chin and making his fingers sticky. The nymph laughed at the mess he'd made of himself, which the raven could only reply to with a small laugh of his own. More juice fell from his mouth, but Craig couldn't find it in himself to care. He allowed himself to fall back onto his butt, sitting and savoring the sweet food. Tweek followed in kind, sitting a little ways behind him and soon taking up another melody.

They sat that way for a while, Craig nibbling at his food and Tweek humming. The darkness that had fallen over the sky would have swallowed them whole, but Tweek’s song had caused many lights to spark to life on the nearby trees and even the grass. Soft pulsing glows illuminated the boy beside him, and he noticed once more that the creature was truly a sight to behold.

It was comforting, being surrounded by the lights and the soft noises of the nymph. He never seemed to go silent for long, always making strange noises at the life around him or quietly singing a song. Back on Earth, maybe Craig would have been annoyed with him. He would have longed for silence, and would have hated the familiar touches they kept sharing.

But here, it was comforting. Here, those songs seemed to breathe life into the world, secrets of the land only being coaxed out by the beautiful voice of the nymph. The raven found himself scooting closer to the boy, their backs pressing gently together until they were slumped against one another. The creature’s song faltered as his green eyes drifted to peer curiously at Craig.

Even though Craig _knew_ this closeness was what he wanted, what he needed, the scrutiny of those eyes made him panic. He turned his cheek away, pretending that he wasn’t the one trying to initiate contact. A soft tinkling of laughter spilled close to his ear, and Craig turned his head back, surprised as he came nose to nose with the nymph.

Tweek’s eyes were soft and caring, crinkling at the edges as his lips was pulled into a smile. Long fingers groped along Craig’s arm until they came into contact with his own, where they slowly worked their way into the gaps, melting the two hands together in a warm and comforting touch.

“Me too,” Tweek said softly.

Their faces were so close that Craig could feel the hot breath passing from the nymph’s lips as he spoke. The raven’s eyes had fallen to stare at the plump flesh, dully noting that his lips weren’t green, but instead were a pale pink. Tweek’s breath was pleasant as he spoke in the limited space between them, fresh and earthy.

“What?” Craig whispered back, not wanting to break the strange quiet over them.

“I am lonely.”

Craig eyes snapped back to the green orbs staring at him, and although the smile never left Tweek’s face, he could see the change in his eyes. Sadness was bubbling there beneath the surface, trying to fight its way out, and Craig could see the struggle to keep it buried. Tweek was in _pain._

All Craig could think of was the song he had stumbled upon, the broken keening that had been torn from the throat of the creature in front of him.

_It hurts._

The raven squeezed the fingers twined with his own. His eyes drifted down to their joined hands, and for the first time he noticed that despite the creature’s fingers being so long and ghastly, those green hands were still smaller than his own. Something protective seized his chest, and he wished he could know why there was so much pain in a creature so kind. Craig wanted to help him, to be honest with him, to stop being such an emotionally stunted idiot.

But without the right words to say, he simply allowed them to sit there, their foreheads now leaned together and hands squeezing each other like lifelines. Craig’s eyes had slid closed, unable to stare at the ache in the nymph’s face.

Tweek was the first to pull away, suddenly tensing before disentangling himself from the human. His song having long since faded, the plants around them had slowly dimmed as they spoke, and the darkness had settled over them once more. Without no light aside from the stars, as the moons were currently obscured by trees, Craig took notice of the severe lack of glow that surrounded the nymph before. The energy seemed sapped from the creature, his eyes tired and skin void of the previous hum of energy. Still, he stood up in a single smooth motion, facing away from Craig.

“Going home,” the nymph muttered as he quickly began taking strides away.

_What?_ Craig looked on in confusion, angry at how much those simple words made his mood plummet. And anyways, the nymph had _just_ admitted to being lonely, why was he leaving so suddenly?

“Wait!” Craig called.

The green boy’s steps faltered, but there was no other indication he was listening. Still, the raven barreled on.

“Can I… Come with you?”

Why did he sound so _small?_ His voice had come out whiny and young, like a child begging for their mother. But Craig couldn't let his only friend in the entire universe just _leave_ like that.

“No.”

Tweek’s reply was abrupt and flat, startling Craig. He wanted to be angry, _would_ have been angry, if he hadn’t caught a glimpse of the nymph’s face in the starlight.

It was somewhat terrifying, how quickly the mood around the green boy had shifted. The warmth and kindness seemed to have been sapped away with his glow, replaced with fear and apprehension. His eyebrows were knit together in thought, shoulders tense as he worried at his plump bottom lip with small sharp teeth.

“Don’t worry, I won't follow you if you don't want me to,” Craig noticed the tension that was immediately released from the creature before he continued on with his main point. “But… Please come back tomorrow. I-I can't be alone anymore,” his voice broke off at the end. He sounded so pathetic.

But Tweek finally looked back at him fully, the small easy smile back on his face. It was a lesser version of his previous grins, but it felt reassuring all the same as the nymph gave a small nod. A quiet coo was sent Craig’s way, as was a small, precious blue flower from the nymph’s vines that was gently pressed into his hands before the creature moved away once more.

Watching the green boy slip away into the darkness, Craig clutched the flower tightly to his chest.

_Please come back tomorrow._


	5. Everything Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Slides in- Heyyyyy I totally didn't disappear for the past few months or anything! Not at all!
> 
> Anyways if you were actually following this story sorry for falling off the planet, but I've finally got a bunch of life stuff sorted out and can write again. Please look forward to future updates as I already have a good chunk more written up :) I can't wait to share it with you all!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

_ Approx Year 2000 _

_ Eriss _

 

“Eriss, that is the _last_ straw! You can not keep sticking up for that… That _thing!_ ”

The Elder nymph’s voice boomed throughout the clearing, ringing loud in the girl's ears as even the trees seemed to cringe away. The Elder, who's given name was long forgotten, was the picture of rage. Her aged vines creaked as her body shook with anger, and although she did not truly appear any older than the rest of the full-grown nymph folk, tired lines seemed even more prominent than normal, sunken into her severe face. Beside her the other nymphs jeered and hissed at Eriss, various voices damning her.

“That creature should have been given back to the land the moment it came out of her!” The Elder shrieked, barreling on with the force of her wrath. “No one should have it pawned off on them to coddle or cater to this thing. Not even you! We have _actual_ children to attend to!”

Eriss flinched at The Elder's words, but otherwise refused to back down. She stood tall and proud, a scowl on her face that morphed her beautiful features into something terrifying.

She snarled back just as fierce as The Elder had, her lidded sapphire eyes narrowing as her nose scrunched up. Eriss was a tall nymph who carried herself with a certain air of confidence that seemed to pour forth from her now. None of the other nymphs would be able to say she wasn’t a force to be reckoned with.

The child in question, no, the _boy_ cowered behind Eriss, clutching her leg so tightly she could feel his nails sinking into her flesh. That pain was nothing compared to the one that flared in her chest as she felt the wet tears from the boy pressed against her skin.

“He _is_ a child! Do you not understand how much pain this is causing? It’s a simple request of equality!” Eriss snapped back.

The child whimpered behind her. Eriss offered her hand to him, and she quickly felt a squeeze as his small fingers curled around her own. It was a gesture meant to give the boy strength, but suddenly she was the one that felt stronger.

She let out a breath, willing herself to calm down. Logical. Eriss needed to be logical and kind. What she _didn't_ need to do was get in a screaming match with The Elder. The young nymph woman turned and gathered the boy in her arms, careful not to tangle him within the creepers adorning her body. Large misty green eyes met sapphire blue in fear, and all she could offer was a reassuring smile. Finally she turned her attention back to the others.

“Elder, you are the one that taught us to love all of the life on this land, from the smallest flower to the largest tree.” Eriss’ voice was calm and powerful. “Why do you not extend that to him? We only wish for him to be treated normally-”

“But that thing _is not normal!_ ” The Elder cut her off before Eriss could even finish, cheeks flushed with her anger.

“Elder, I-”

“ _No_.”

The Elder spoke with such power that her tree pulsed behind her brightly, a blinding light flashing into the clearing and lighting up the whole night. Nymphs turned their faces away, whimpering and guarding their eyes.

This time when The Elder spoke, her words were softer, but the message behind them was not.

“Eriss, although you are strong and prideful, you are still one of the kindest of us all. Your heart bleeds for those who do not deserve it.” Cold eyes pierced into Eriss’ heart, and her skin crawled with a cold fear. “ _It,_ ” The Elder spat out in disgust at the boy, “Does not deserve it.”

Deeming the conversation done, The Elder gave the pair one last glare before turning on her heel and leaving. Soon many of the other nymphs began to clear out as well, until it was only the boy and Eriss. She clutched the child tightly to her chest and tried to rub soothing circles into his back, but she was otherwise immobile.

That was it. She knew she was fighting a hard battle, but she hadn't truly realized it was a lost one until now. There was nothing else to do. She couldn't help, couldn't breathe, couldn't think-

“E-Eri.”

The tiny voice cut through the fog of her panicked mind. She tilted her long neck down, features softening as she saw his tiny smile. He didn’t need her to panic right now, she needed to be his rock. If this boy could be strong, she needed to be unstoppable.

“What is it, love?” Eriss asked quietly, voice tired.

“It- It… It’ll be okay. Ngh. I'll be better. I won’t, ack… Won’t ask for th-the impossible anymore. You don't- don't have to keep sticking up for m-me.” His voice cracked towards the end, but he still flashed her a wobbly smile.

Eriss could feel a pressure crushing down on her chest, and for the first time in her life, she had no idea what to do about it. She was a problem solver - why waste time worrying about things when you could simply fix them?

But this? She couldn't fix this. She couldn't give him the life he was supposed to lead.

“Let's go on home love, yeah? I'll walk you there,” Eriss’ voice was soft. Defeated.

The boy nodded, and she gently took him from her bosom, only letting go when she knew his small feet touched the ground. The woman only had time to stretch her aching body for a minute before his tiny hand was groping for her own, seeking comfort in the familiar touch that she easily indulged him in.

They began to walk, and Eriss couldn't help but wonder how much he understood of the events that transpired. If he truly knew what this meant. Afterall, his fluency in their language wasn’t the best due to the everyone's reluctance to be around the defect, much less _teach_ him.

Eriss’ breath hitched in her throat as she realized what she had just thought. He was _not_ a defect. She wouldn't abandon him like the others had. _She_ knew he was special -  she had seen it with her own eyes.

Once they reached the boy's tree after their short trek in silence, she felt the slight tensing of his body as he gripped Eriss’ hand tighter. She gently took her hand back, opting instead to kneel down to his eye level.

“It’ll be alright love, go on then. You'll be safe in your tree.” She spoke soft and kind, tucking one of his blonde curls behind his ear.

“I… I’m still scared,” he whispered.

It was true. She saw it in his tremors, felt the fear through their touch. Eriss wondered if he could feel her own turmoil.

The woman let out a small melody, soft and warm. It was a tiny song that settled a warm, melting feeling in the child’s stomach. He mimicked the tune, some of the tension easing from his shoulders.

“Tell you what,” Eriss whispered excitedly, like a surprise shared just between the two of them. “I'll sing you a real song, but you have to rest in your tree after, okay?”

His face lit up, the moss on the boy's tree letting out a soft glow in response. He nodded before plopping down at the foot of his tree, resting his back against the sturdy grey trunk.

Eriss sat in front of the child, long legs tucked to her side and hands folded neatly in her lap. Once they were both settled, she took in a small breath before singing softly.

 

_Come all children, bring your gifts_

_The baby will be born today_

_We'll have honey and fruit and wine_

_Please, come welcome the child of mine_

 

_Come all children, my babe is strange_

_Please bless him so he may be strong_

_I fear the night will swallow us whole_

_My poor child may pay the ultimate toll_

 

_Come all children_

_Please_

_Your time would be enough_

_Merely sing this boy a lullaby_

_I have no tears left to cry_

 

_Come all children, please tell me why_

_The child is dead_

_And so am I_

 

Eriss let the song break off, the last of her melody carried off by the wind. The boy stared at her with wide eyes before his face was tugged downwards.

“T-that… Wasn't a h-happy song,” he hiccuped, on the verge of tears.

Eriss gave him a gentle smile. A sigh escaped her lips as she scooted closer to him, taking his hands into her lap.

“It isn't,” she agreed. “But it's an important tune. It's a true story.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Who sang it then?”

“The Mother herself,” Eriss told him, patting the ground lovingly with one hand. “You aren't the first boy born, you know. There was one other.”

His eyes went huge at that, disbelief written all over his face.

“W-What happened to him?”

The boy's voice was soft and concerned. Eriss supposed it ought to be. She thought for a moment, lips pursed as she chose her words carefully.

“When the boy was born, the other nymphs were very confused. They treated him poorly… As the others treat you now,” she winced at her own words, quickly moving on. “But The Mother knew he was special, just as _I_ know _you_ are. And the women didn't notice how _happy_ The Mother was. There was so much food, honey… So much _life_ , love. They took it for granted.”

He was staring at her with wide eyes, hanging onto her every word. Eriss wanted to stop. Why had she sung this song? She should have waited until he was older, until he was stronger.

_But what if he didn’t have time either?_

“T-The boy grew weak, after barely being alive at all,” she found herself saying. A slight lie never hurt anyone - right? “No one taught him the way of our people - he was shunned, and eventually his body must have grown tired. I won't go into details, love, but he… He passed and faded back into his tree, where it soon grew brittle and broke. There was no saving him.”

Eriss gulped, mouth feeling dry.

“The Mother stopped giving us so many nice things after that. Honey dried up, and flowers stopped giving their fruit… There are some flowers that stopped existing altogether after that. They must have felt her grief and couldn’t take it. The Mother left too, and afterwards she cried and cried and nearly covered the whole planet in her tears. That’s why we all must reside on this island together, for all the others have either died with The Mother or been buried in her sorrow. So we must grieve for both of them.”

She gripped his small hands in hers tightly, waiting for his tears. But none came.

“That’s it?” He asked.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion as she gave a sharp nod. “Yes. The Mother’s physical form died after singing that song. Her tree was so grand it was said you could see it no matter where you were. His tree had grown alongside hers, and after he faded into his tree and it broke, she soon followed suit. The falling of her tree shook the planet itself, and just as her song foretold, we experienced rain for many years until it suddenly went dry. During the years of flood was when we all had to try and reach high ground, which is this land. But there were many whose trees were completely submerged and they faded as well. That’s it,” She finally finished.

“Where you alive during that time?” He asked her.

Something about his tone put her off. He spoke so soft, but the most confident in his words as she had ever heard him. Eriss shook it off.

“I wasn’t. The woman that mentored me had the story passed down to her, from her own mentor.”

The boy stared at her for a beat, before he snatched his hands out of hers. Eriss stared on in surprised as the boy stood, his tiny frame shaking with anger.

“That’s… That’s stupid! That can’t be real at all!” He shouted at her.

Eriss lifted her hand towards him to give comfort as she normally did, but for the first time he smacked her hand away. The woman recoiled, her hand stinging. She could only stare at him in shock, never having seen her sweet boy act like this before.

“That’s just some stupid story your mentor told you! If it was true, why would the others treat me like this?” He shouted. “Why would they hate me? I bet the others didn't even go to his tree to mourn him like The Mother asked! And why is the boy in the story just _boy_ , why wouldn’t The Mother give him a name? Why don’t **I** have a name?”

_So he did understand._

The boy’s screeching broke off into sobs as he finally finished, his knees giving out beneath him. Eriss quickly caught him and rested his head upon her chest, running a soothing hand over his hair. At first the boy tried to push away, but something in him seemed to snap as he finally melted into the embrace and allowed himself to truly weep.

Eriss listened to his cries, and perhaps she wept along with him, but she wouldn’t allow him to hear. How could she be weak when the boy had been so strong? How had she not realized being unnamed had eaten away at him so badly? Why hadn’t she tried harder to convince The Elder?

Why was she so bad at this?

“Eri,” he finally whimpered.

The nymph woman steeled herself, quickly and discreetly wiping her arm across her eyes before pulling back to look at him. The boys face was flushed from stress and wet with tears, but his misty eyes showed no weakness.

“Please,” he begged. “Please, j-just, gah… Give me a name. I don’t want to die without a name.”

She gasped. “What are you- You’re not going to die anytime soon, love,” she tried to convince him. Perhaps herself as well.

“If that story _is_ true,” his voice was barely above a whisper. “Th-then. Ngh. Then how can I know that? _How do you know_?”

Eriss could only stare at him with wide eyes. That’s not what she wanted him to take away from this. She only wanted him to know that he was a reincarnation of a literal blessing, the most treasured blessing The Mother had ever offered them. Why did he not understand?

“Listen, love-”

“No!”

The boy yelled, shooting up to his feet. The sudden movement caused a wave of dizziness to hit him as he staggered against his tree. The boy clenched his eyes shut, breathing slowly through his nose and trying to hold back more tears.

“I don’t-don’t want to listen.” He told her. “I, guh, I just want a name. Please, _please_ . I-I’ll never ask for anything more, Eri. _I just want a name_.” He begged.

The woman tasted bile on her tongue and tried to will the sick down. She felt as if a monster had awoken in her stomach, a real and wretched thing that only grew giddy with the response she knew she had to give. It scraped its nails against her belly and forced her to say it aloud.

Eriss dropped her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. “You know I can’t do that.” She whispered.

“Yes you can!” He shouted before lowering his voice once more. “You… Ngh. You just won’t.”

“Please-”

“ _Say it._ J-Just finally tell me. Just… Tell me the truth.” He whispered.

Eriss hung her head, feeling her jaw clench and unclench as she clutched desperately at her vines. Anything to steady her, anything to give her strength.

“I won’t do it,” she finally told him. “I won’t give you a name.”

Shame washed over her and the nymph woman doubled over, clutching her stomach as she waited for a response. A scream, a snarl, hell, she wouldn't even blame him if there was suddenly a fist striking her. Instead, Eriss heard a sniffle.

The woman lifted her head to catch the waterfall of tears cascading down the child's face. They were heavy and showed no sign of slowing although the boy’s eyes were shut tightly. Every tear he washed away with a swipe of his delicate fingers was immediately replaced with another. A wail bubbled from his chest and automatically Eriss grabbed for the boy, but instead her fingers passed through nothing as the child's form began to fade into the tree. The crying grew quieter until it was gone completely, the only proof it had happened at all being the erratic blue pulsings that lit up the moss.

Eriss’ hand fell to the trunk of his tree, nothing else to grasp for comfort in sight. But the bright blue light that blinded her afterwards was a clear demand - _Go away_.

Plenty of times the boy had faded into his tree to rest or escape the jeers of other nymphs, but this was the first time he had done so to avoid Eriss. The shame turned to hurt, and the nymph woman fell to her knees in front of the boy's tree, careful not to touch it this time as her blue eyes were left open to stare off at nothing in particular.

At this rate, she would be hated by everyone. This was her last ditch effort in hopes that her fellow sisters wouldn’t completely shun her for sticking up for the boy, but perhaps she would lose both the child and her own people. Maybe she would lose herself as well.

She had never had a child of her own to mentor. The boy was special to her. Eriss had taken a piece of her soul and planted the child herself. She sang to the sapling every day, shielded it from bad weather, saw the first time he unfazed from his tree. The boy was her special treasure, the closest being to her heart - Eriss couldn’t afford to lose him.

The nymph slowly stood, steeling her resolve to come up with the right words. She would set this right, and he would jump into her arms and rub his tear stained cheeks into her bosom like normal.

Eriss opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by an ear shattering noise like none she’d ever heard before. It roared like a storm and reverberated through her skull as she quickly covered her ears, lifting her gaze skyward to try and see what could make a sound like that.

Eyes widening, she barely registered the child unfazing from his tree. He stood beside her, staring up at the sky as well in absolute fright. A beast was crashing down towards their planet, fire and smoke gushing from the foreign thing. It shrieked and shuddered as it descended, and although it seemed it would land quite a bit away from the pair, they could only wonder what damage it would cause when it finally touched the ground.

“What… What _is_ that?” The child asked, their previous argument long forgotten.

Eriss gulped and reached for the child’s hand, which he easily offered her, squeezing it like a lifeline. Their eyes finally tore from the creature above them to gaze at each other. Through their touch he knew the answer, but still she spoke.

“I-I don’t know,” the nymph woman admitted.

They both lifted their eyes once more, no more words needing to be exchanged between them, because he already knew the one thing his mentor wasn’t saying.

Whatever that creature was, it promised danger.


	6. Reflections

_ Approx Year 3500 _

_ Craig _

 

“You came back,” Craig said dumbly.

The nymph gave him a small smile and cooed from where his head stuck out of the water.

The night had passed uneventfully as Craig slept near the pond, hoping the nymph would show up here since it seemed a favored spot for the alien. Luckily the night was neither scorching as the day or as chilly as Craig had suspected, for he had realized he’d lost his shirt back along the riverbank somewhere. Heck, he'd lost his water bottle too. His torso had felt somewhat cold, but nothing he couldn’t handle, and with plenty of water to drink everywhere, Craig decided they were both issues he could worry about later.

After a meal of honey from a few surrounding trees, the man had come back to rest on the bank of the pond. He had been lost in thought, alternating between observing the life around him and daydreaming of pretty blonde hair on a beautiful green face. When he opened his eyes this last time, to his surprise, the face he had been thinking of appeared in front of him.

But the creature had a mischievous little glint in his eye as he floated closer to the man. Just as Craig was about to open his mouth and ask what the boy was doing, the nymph spewed a tiny fountain of water at the other man, soaking his face.

Sputtering and cursing, Craig quickly wiped his face with his hand, glaring at the green boy.

“What was that for?” Craig growled.

All he got in response was more water gushing into his face.

Anger bubbled in his chest, until he heard the soft tinkling giggle from the nymph. _Oh._ Tweek was playing.

It had been so long since Craig had carefree fun with someone, he realized he'd almost gotten uptight over nothing. Instead, he now felt the start of a small smile twitch on his face, a fuzzy feeling growing in his chest.

“Fine pretty boy, if you wanna play, let's play,” Craig muttered.

He jumped into the water beside the nymph, splashing Tweek a lot more than necessary and earning himself a surprised squeak. The sound morphed into a screech of delight as Craig slapped the surface of the water, spraying the creature in droplets of water that the green boy half-heartedly turned away from. The warmth that hummed in the raven’s chest expanded as he gave into the carefree fun, laughing and playing with Tweek as if they were children.

It reminded him of playing silly games with Tricia back on Earth. Water was scarce and they wouldn’t dare splash around in it as Tweek and he were now, but they still found ways to have fun, at least for Tricia’s sake. When the sand storms weren’t so bad, Craig would chase her around whatever shelter they were currently calling home, and Craig was always conveniently getting a cramp in his legs if he were too close to catching her.

The memory zipped through Craig’s mind faster that he could think to try and avoid it, and a crushing sadness squeezed his chest. His arms dropped to his sides in the water, shifting with the push and pull of the liquid from the waterfall overhead. Tweek's hands fell as well from their defensive position in front of his face as he cocked his head to the side, eyeing the human curiously.

“Okay?” Tweek asked, expression soft as he took a step towards the man in the shallow water.

 _No,_ Craig thought. He wasn't okay, and he wasn't really sure if he ever would be. His family had been his entire life. It wasn't a great one, but it was all he had known for so long.

Even though his parents had been able to fulfill his wish to see the stars, Craig couldn't help wanting to see his family again. To have one more argument with his mother, to hear Tricia's laugh, to feel his father's hand clapped on his shoulder. When one dream came true, he couldn't help but wish for another. And this dream was one that was truly helpless.

But there was no coherent way he could think of to properly admit that to Tweek, and truthfully, he wasn't sure if he wanted to.

So much of Craig's knowledge of basic human interaction had dissipated in the years spent roaming space. The man couldn't think of how far into a friendship someone should be before sharing private details, but the longer he sat on the question the more he knew he wasn’t ready. So the raven settled in somewhere between truth and a lie.

“I'll be fine, Tweek,” Craig assured him.

He wrapped his arm around the nymph and pulled his friend into his side, ghosting a small kiss over his temple just as Craig used to do to Tricia. A squeak came from Tweek, and Craig pushed away from the boy to see what damage he had done in a moment of his turmoiled emotions.

But to the raven's surprise a small blush dusted the nymph’s green cheeks. He was looking down at the water bashfully, wringing his hands together. A frown tugged at the corner of Craig's lips as he took a small step away.

“Sorry dude, I didn't mean to do anything weird,” the man laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair.

But Tweek looked up with a shy smile, shaking his head. “You know kiss too? I like kiss.”

His long fingers tugged at Craig’s arm, prompting him to lean down. The man had to nearly squat in the water to get where Tweek wanted him, but when he was low enough, the nymph pressed his own lips gently to the side of Craig's head. When they pulled away once more, Tweek wore a sad smile, his eyes seeming to look through the human.

“I…”

Tweek’s words drifted along with his eyes. Patiently Craig waited for the nymph to continue before gently shaking his shoulder. When he did, a fleeting image seemed to zip through the human’s mind - a blonde human pressing a small kiss to the brow of a young Tweek. A shockwave of warmth shot through him as the image seemed to radiate happiness, but was immediately soured with sadness, longing.

The image and feelings were gone just as soon as they came. The blonde boy jolted at the touch, eyes refocusing on the raven in front of him.

“Tweek?” The human asked, voice laced with concern.

“Oh. Uh- Ki-kiss much now, okay? I like it,” Tweek beamed at him, every hint of sadness seemingly gone.

Ignoring the strange unease in his belly and the erratic beating of his heart, Craig shook his head and let out a soft laugh.

“You mean let's kiss _a lot?”_ The man corrected.

Tweek let out a groan, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

“Stupid human language.”

 

\---

 

Their days were passing peacefully, with the main focus being on adding weight to Craig's body. The days were long - 42 hours long to be precise, as the raven eventually took the time to keep track of - but they were not unfruitful.

Everyday it seemed Craig's ribs didn’t jut out so much and his muscles didn’t feel so weak. There was a large variety of things to fill up on here - all sorts of fruits and vegetables, honey, berries, seeds, and enough fresh water to last eons. And fill up he did, nearly eating until he felt sick at every meal. He knew that it probably wasn’t the healthiest idea, but it was a long forgotten bliss from his time spent on the first planet, simply being able to enjoy the weight of the sustenance resting in the pit of his stomach.

The only bad part of the whole situation was that Craig had never really had a reason to feel self conscious before. It was a foreign feeling until now, but suddenly there was someone Craig felt he needed to impress.

Tweek was skinny, but not unhealthy or malnourished as the raven was now. Everyday Craig’s appearance _was_ improving, making him look… Well, more like a human. Yet he wished it all would happen faster, fueled by a strange fear that Tweek would be disgusted with his body and abandon him. It was his greatest fear at this point. His only fear. If Tweek abandoned him, Craig would have no one again.

And he couldn’t survive that a second time.

So sometimes the man found himself returning to the ship when he was alone, trying to catch glimpses of himself in the metal. There he would attempt to rake his fingers through his hair like a brush, poke at his ribs and pull at his taut skin, or inspect the deep sunken in look of his eyes. Craig wished he could look half as nice as Tweek, as he often caught himself staring at the nymph's beauty. But there was no way he could compare to that.

When Craig stared at his reflection, oftentimes he would remember his mother. Her frail body always looked pale and fatigued, just as Craig’s looked now. It hurt so much to realize how she must have felt, starvation slowly eating away at her as she tried to provide for her family. Craig was an idiot for not realizing sooner that she was skipping meals.

Though their days were spent almost entirely together, during the night Tweek would take his leave to who-knows-where. Craig never asked to accompany the nymph again, as the offer was obviously _not_ on the table, but it continued to wound the man anew every night.

Still, their days together were fun at least. Tweek would teach him how to hum and sing to the plants the way they liked, and in return Craig would try and help the nymph remember some of his long forgotten English. Although it was beginning to seem he must have never had proper grammar down to begin with.

Though sometimes neither task really felt like it was yielding results, it was fun. They would laugh together when one of them stumbled, and celebrate when things went well. Craig felt… Content.

One of the best things to Craig was learning more about Tweek. He hardly ever directly spoke of himself, but with a face incapable of hiding his thoughts and emotions, the human felt he was catching on quick.

The nymph favored honey and seeds to every other food around them, and although he pretended to enjoy the sourberries they shared together, the angry face the nymph wore as his face pinched up wasn't really all that convincing.

The blonde liked sunshine, and hissed when it was overcast. He loved swimming, but would curse under his breath when his slender fingers pruned up. The cool air of dusk suited him better than the day, and at dawn he was best avoided to not hear his groans and complaints. As for favored locations, when he wasn’t dragging Craig someplace to show the man something new, he was nearly always at his treasured pond where they first met. All this and more Craig learned as the days past, but even that wasn't the best part.

No, the best part was the creature's singing. Tweek sung nearly constantly, whether he was happy or sad, bored or content. And Craig didn't mind one bit.

Sometimes they were melodies that seemed to weave a story without need of words, the tempo picking up before falling off into a quiet sigh. Sometimes the songs didn't seem to have any meaning at all, just a nice way to fill up the quiet of a nearly deserted planet.

But everyday Tweek made sure to sing to the tree in the middle of the pond. It was a melody all of its own - one Craig recognized from the first time he heard the nymph sing.

The human didn’t know what, but something must have happened here. The man had heard the song everyday, and it never got easier to listen to. It twisted his heart in his chest and opened a chasm in the pit of his stomach. It made him feel like he would break. It made him feel fragile.

Everyday Craig's eyes would fill with unshed tears from the song, and when Tweek's gaze would catch his as the tune broke off, he'd see the same wetness shining in those misty green orbs.

He wouldn't ask right now - _couldn't_ ask right now… But perhaps one day he'd feel brave enough. Until then, he'd keep listening to the song that wasn't made for him.

If Craig got a melody all for his own, he hoped it wouldn't sound so horribly sad.

 

\---

 

“Mmmm.”

Craig smacked his lips happily, licking the last of some honey from his fingers. It was most definitely his favorite food on this planet. Maybe out of any planet. It was sweeter than anything he'd had before.

The man had fallen down to rest on his back, closing his eyes and savoring the warm setting sun of dusk as he rubbed at his stomach idly.

_I didn’t know you could eat so much you literally feel heavier._

_Damn, that’s awesome._

“Craig!”

At the sound of his name, the man peeled one eye open but otherwise didn't move. A few meters away he could see Tweek hustling over to him, a crooked little smile on his flushed face. The nymph's hands were hidden behind his back, and he looked positively giddy.

“You not believe! It is Oishitanza!” The green boy shouted happily.

Tweek quickly sat down next to the human, legs folded under him to rest his hands upon his knees. One hand still clutched something tightly, and Craig didn't have to wait long to find out what it was that Tweek was hiding. The nymph scooted closer to him, shoving a yellow petal under his nose.

“Look! Oishi petal!”

Tweek was staring at Craig expectantly, as if that was supposed to mean something to him. Just as the raven opened his mouth to reply, his nose scrunched up as he let out a rather violent sneeze. Sniffling, he begrudgingly sat up enough to peer curiously at his alien companion, who was checking the petal for… Snot, he presumed. Whoops.

“Don’t shove things under people’s noses,” Craig half heartedly scolded as he yawned. “What the hell is Oishitanza anyways? You’re pretty damn excited about it.”

The nymph pressed the petal into Craig’s hands before holding them in his own, nearly bouncing in his excitement.

“Oishi is special flower, tanza is festival! Only bloom for few days! Very pretty!”

Every sentence Tweek gushed out was a whoop of excitement. Craig could feel the joy the nymph exuded, finally unable to contain his own smile despite still feeling rather confused.

“Still don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about bud, so just show me.”

Nodding a few more times than necessary, Tweek gladly took his hand, yanking the man up to lead Craig further and further away from their normal hangout. The human closed his eyes and allowed himself to be led, trusting Tweek to not let him run into anything. It felt nice walking like this, a little guide and the warm sun heating his back.

When the ground beneath their feet changed from spongy soil to rough rock, Craig opened his eyes to take care with his steps, but ended up watching their reflections within the river they now followed. Tweek would glance back at him to offer a smile, and Craig would smile back at the Tweek reflected in the water. They looked good like this, hand in hand with contentment written on their faces.

Once the river began to widen, Tweek prompted him to close his eyes once more. It was only a few more minutes until they finally stopped, Tweek’s body vibrating against his in anticipation.

“Can I open my eyes now?” Craig asked.

“Yes,” Tweek sounded breathless, squeezing the human’s hand in his.

Doing just that, Craig slowly took in his surroundings. They were standing near the edge of the ocean, vast and turning inky black against the now dark sky. Rocks and sand rested beneath their feet, stirring up the water where it crashed onto land. The stars hung over the water and shined brightly, and while it was all pretty, it was most definitely not what the nymph had been talking about. There did seem to be a few splotches floating around them, but against the night sky they didn’t look like much of anything at all.

“Okay…?” Craig tried not to sound too disappointed as he looked down dubiously at the alien.

Tweek gave a toothy grin before giving out a sharp, three note cry. A laugh bubbled out of his chest as the floating splotches lit up, a fluorescent yellow light shining out of the flowers. It shone from the middle and light worked its way up each petal, giving a soft glow that seemed to flicker like fire. They twirled and danced over the ocean, adding more lights to the sky, and their reflections along with it.

“Wow,” Craig breathed, watching in awe.

But honestly, he couldn’t pick between watching the flowers or watching Tweek. The green boy had slipped out of his grasp to jump and twist in the shallow water, keening every so often to set the lights off anew. Tweek danced there in the middle of it all, twirling in a little pirouette with the glow of the flowers reflecting on his misted eyes. He looked the happiest Craig had ever seen him.

Running up to the nymph, Craig smiled down at him before jumping and doing his own dance. It wasn’t elegant, more like he was merely thrusting his arms out while he spun and hollered, but nonetheless it made his heart feel full. Tweek watched in surprise for a moment, before grinning and singing them an actual tune to sway to. It was an old folky sounding song, one that made Craig’s heart pick up to thump in time with the beat, one that made him want to move. The lights faded in and out with Tweek’s voice, and the two danced beneath the moons together until their lungs begged them to stop.

Tweek gave his final spin between heavy breaths, stopping in time to face the water. The grin never left his face as he stared out over the ocean, chest heaving and eyes bright. Craig looked straight ahead with him, enjoying the cool gentle breeze that blew in from over the water. Their heart rates finally began to slow, and Craig took a gulp of fresh salty air.

“They blend in so well with the stars, don’t you think?”

Tweek finally looked up at the human, face still slightly flushed as he tilted his head. “Stars?”

“Oh!” Craig let out in surprise, glancing at the nymph to shift his eyes upwards. “I guess they didn’t teach you a word for it for some reason.” Pointing up at the sky, he marked a few of the hanging lights with an invisible touch. “Not the great big things, but the small little lanterns in the sky. They’re my favorite, you know.”

Silently Tweek had followed his gaze to stare at the illuminations, and let out a small breath when it clicked into place.

“Oh! Them! So pretty,” the nymph beamed.

Craig smiled back, giving a small nod in agreement. He was happy he got to teach Tweek that special word.

A comfortable silence blanketed the two for a time, the flowers dimming with the absence of song. Tweek took a tiny leap and caught an Oishi that had floated down close, staring at it with affection.

“Oishi is _my_ favorite.”

“I could tell,” Craig let out a soft laugh.

Tweek stuck his tongue out at the human before staring at the plant once more, a gentle smile on his face.

“I save Oishi, long ago.”

“Really?” Craig asked, surprised.

“Mhm,” Tweek nodded. “She nearly gone, trip like this, but the last.” The nymph swept his free hand out along the horizon, gesturing to the floating Oishi. “I sing to her, and after time, she finally sing back.”

Tweek beamed at the human, still holding his flower gently. But then the look returned, the one Craig had grown accustomed to during their time together. A far off look would dull the creature’s eyes, and his pink lips would part slightly, breath held at bay. None of Tweek’s good moments seemed to last long before the look would return. It opened up the chasm that rested in Craig’s chest.

“I wish I could have saved someone,” the human found himself saying, slipping his hand into Tweek’s as he had grown used to doing.

Whether he spoke to comfort the nymph or himself, he couldn’t be sure.

The creature’s eyes seemed to return to the present, eyebrows knitting together as he stared at the human.

“What?” The green boy asked.

“On my planet… Things sucked,” Craig said simply. “Lots of people went on their… Their last trip. Most importantly, the person I loved the most went on hers right in front of me. I… Don’t even know if my parents went on theirs,” he said sadly, trying to ignore the tears gathering at the edges of his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if I was happy, or if I can ever _be_ happy… But I feel like if I could have saved someone, if I could've saved _her,_ I would have been happy. I’d be worthwhile, or something… But that's all in the past, and there's no way to change that…,” the human trailed off.

The hand that held his own gently slipped from his grasp, and he felt the cool ocean air surround his hand immediately. But then there was a gentle caress of fingertips on his cheek, and Craig didn't hear Tweek speak, but knew what he was saying all the same.

_Keep talking._

“I-,” Craig's voice cracked immediately, and he swallowed thickly before words began tumbling out of his mouth. “Sometimes I just feel like there’s a gaping hole in my chest. Like it's the spot that's supposed to let you feel happy but instead it's just this big, empty thing. For a while I used to just feel so indifferent to shit but I know that’s not normal and I just… I just want to actually _feel_ something, something aside from grief. I've been surviving in outer space for thirteen years but that doesn't mean I've been living. But since we've been together I've actually felt… _Alive._ It's been so nice to have you around and you make me feel something _good_ but… But then sometimes…,” Craig finally slowed, his heart hammering out of his chest. “Sometimes I wonder if you feel the same way, the same emptiness. Sometimes I look at your eyes and I don’t even feel like you're looking at me. Sometimes… I wonder where you are, and if I can be there with you. Tweek, I just… I can't be alone anymore, I don’t know if I'll ever be happy, but I know for sure that I won’t be if you aren't there with me. I want to depend on you. Maybe that's not healthy and maybe you don’t want that but _I_ do. I want us to lean on each other… I want us to be the type of friends that are always together. Can we… Can we do that?”

Craig sounded so small, fragile even to his own ears. Suddenly the man started to feel tired and heavy after speaking, falling to let the waves nip at his waist. Tweek didn’t say anything for a while, merely joining him to rest in the water, face staring out over the void. His expression was stoic. Unreadable.

 _I'm an idiot,_ the human thought.

It’s not like he knew how to have friends. He didn’t know how to do _any_ of this. All Craig knew was his desire not to be alone, to merely be allowed to stay by the nymph’s side in some way.

Tweek still didn’t say anything at first, but he did lift the flower he previously clutched to the raven’s lips. Craig did nothing except raise a peculiar eyebrow at the nymph.

“Old nymph say if a breath is put in it and you let Oishi fly over ocean again, you see happiness in reflection. Blow,” Tweek commanded before giving his signature soft smile.

Shrugging, the human did as he was told, watching as the bulb swelled slightly with his breath. The nymph placed half of it in Craig’s hand, so that they gingerly lifted it together, sending it off to float over the ocean.

They exchanged a glance before tilting forward to better see their reflections in the water.

“Nothing is different,” Craig said dully. Not like he expected anything.

“No,” Tweek agreed with a small smile. “Nothing need to change. There is stars, you favorite thing. And there is you, Craig.” The nymph looked away from the water to rest his elbow on his knee, cheek falling into the palm of his hand as he stared at the man. “You are kind human. Gentle, and full with warm. You can be you own happiness,” he gave the type of smile that crinkled the sides of his eyes. “And I _am_ there too. Always. Even when happiness is gone, I am here. I am defective, and I am broken, but I stay, always. Maybe sometime you will go, but I stay. So…,” he searched for the words, until eventually, he found them.

“If you want, you can depend on me.”

The raven stared at him in awe, face slightly flushed. Craig swore he could hear his heart thumping in his own ears and he was probably smiling like an idiot, but he couldn’t waste much time on embarrassment when he felt so _warm._ It was so simple, but for some reason, he hadn’t been able to grasp it before. Of course he wasn’t constantly happy, but the feeling inside him now had been there before, plenty of times. When his dad complimented him, when Tricia giggled, when his mother would fret over him…

When Tweek held his hand.

Looking at the water once more, Craig’s grin only grew wider. Sometimes their reflection didn’t look as clear when the waves crashed down, their frames blurring out of sight. But then the surface would calm and even out once more, and their faces would come back into view, lazy smiles on their lips.

“You’re kind of wise, Tweek,” he muttered, scooting closer to the green boy.

Tweek let out a small laugh, a little blush forming on his face that Craig would have missed if they weren’t so close. The human wrapped his arm around his companion, pulling the nymph in close and basking in the happy coo he received. Though, there was one thing that did still nip at his mind.

“I don’t know what hurts you so bad sometimes, Tweek. I don’t know if you want to talk about it, but if you do, I’ll be here. I’ll always be here,” he decided.

The creature didn’t say anything for a while, merely burying his face into the human’s chest. When he did speak it was muffed against Craig’s chest.

“Sometimes… I get scared about happiness too,” Tweek said softly. “But tonight, I definitely feel it. I feel… Good,” he stated simply.

Craig gave a little lilt of his lips, pressing a chaste kiss to the nymph’s forehead. He obviously didn’t want to spill his heart out to Craig yet, or maybe ever, but after tonight, the man felt he had seem something raw in the alien.

“I do too,” Craig said quietly. “Can we… Let’s spend the next Oishitanza together too, okay?”

Tweek’s head whipped up to stare at the face in front of him, mouth slightly agape. Slowly his lips turned upwards, squeezing in closer to the human’s warm body as he gave a swift nod and a quiet sniffle.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for continuing to stick with me so far!
> 
> Since I was gone for so long I rolled this chapter out a bit earlier than I initially planned to as an apology, but I'll probably be aiming for once every week or every other week from here on out. I also went ahead and changed the story to explicit since this WILL be an explicit story and I just realized I shouldn't loop people into that if they aren't expecting it ahaha. But things won't start being any sorta steamy till about Chapter 9 or 10. Just a heads up /o In the meantime we will still be keeping all the fluff and feelings and sadness, yay!
> 
> Anyways thank you for reading love you byeeeee


	7. Our Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So just a heads up to readers that have been with me Ch 6 and before, I added some tags at the beginning of each chapter stating who we're following for this chapter of the story as well an approximation of the year since there's a little bit of hopping around in this story and we'll have 3 different folks we follow. And of course I'll be adding them at the beginning of every chapter from here on out, just to avoid confusing people. But, that's all, just didn't want to throw anyone off! :)

_ Approx Year 2000 _

_ Kenny _

 

Kenny sat cross-legged on the ground, running his fingers through the oddly colored grass. It was morning, and with it came a dew that misted over the plants, shimmering and sparkling each time the sun hit it just so.

That was the same as his home at least. On Earth everything was green and brown, but here… It was a strange explosion of color that never failed to surprise Kenny, even after dwelling here for the past year. Hell, time was even different. A ‘year’ here was longer than he was used to, nearly double of what it would have been back home.

Currently, he was waiting for something. Or rather, two creatures - an adorable nymph child named Tweek, and Eriss, the older nymph woman that always seemed to trail close behind him.

Eriss was terrifying, to say the least. The woman was shorter than Kenny, but in her presence it was impossible not to feel small. She had hooded sapphire eyes that always made her seem too bored with the conversation, and her voice was smooth like silk but unkind in nature. She was also extremely smart, as she was currently the only nymph that was already fluent in English. Kenny could safely say he felt she was a force to be reckoned with, and so he did his best to stay on her good side so as not to unleash her rage.

But whenever Kenny saw her speak with Tweek, her eyes suddenly lit up, and that cruel voice would turn sweet. She would croon and sing to him, and only him, for she had songs for no one but the small boy.

He was a young child, with large green eyes and a full face. The fear Tweek held for their visitors was evident, as he often shivered and shook if he wasn’t pretending to try and be tough. The green child could hardly speak his native tongue around anyone other than Eriss, much less English. He would blush and stammer and squeak anytime someone even tried to approach him.

But perhaps that was because the alien could sense that no one was too concerned with him. Kenny had arrived on a ship full of young males, and the men could hardly pry their attention from the gorgeous women to pay any mind to the beautiful scenery around them, much less a young ‘defective’ nymph boy, as the others referred to him. Even Tweek's own species seemed to avoid him, as all the girls aside from Eriss neglected to care for the child. The only reason Kenny could think of was that with Tweek being the only male of their species, they had no way to relate to him, but if the man was honest he had no clue why they all turned a cold shoulder to the boy. All he knew was that he had watched their avoidance of the child turn into seething hatred, and it was… Scary.

Eriss seemed to be the one that taught him all the basics of life and was the only one that allowed him to cower behind her vines when the human men came too close. He never even saw another nymph aside from her interact directly with Tweek, much less seem keen on caring for the young boy. They whispered behind his back and bared their tiny fangs when he would pass by, but that was the closest they got.

It was just another thing that added to the strange detached feeling that Kenny often got from his fellow crew men. How could they ignore a child that seemed so lonely, rejected almost entirely by his own species? And sure, the women were pleasant to look at, and after they were able to communicate more, most of them treated Kenny with the utmost kindness. Yet still he felt a bitterness sour his mood with each interaction, as the blonde man felt particularly drawn to the little green boy constantly sticking to Eriss, clutching at her creepers and studying everyone around him with wide, frightened eyes.

Kenny held the role of an Educator. The man taught a lot of the nymphs English and spoke about different things from their world, but he was also the sole individual responsible for Eriss and Tweek, since the others couldn’t be bothered to deal with a boy and his terrifying guardian.  _ Especially _ since they both served to keep the other beautiful nymph women away. At first the blonde haired man had felt out-cast, but after spending more time with the pair, he supposed they were out-cast too. So why not stick together? Plus, when Eriss had caught on quicker than anyone expected, all it served to do was make Kenny look good.

It  _ had  _ taken a strange mixture of patience and pestering to get the two willingly interacting with him, but Kenny’s efforts had proven worth it. The nymph child had even asked Kenny to give him a name for some reason. The man knew Tweek was a strange name, but after the jittering that accompanied the boy asking for a name, how could Kenny have been expected to pick anything else?

The human figured the boy must have recently been born to still be without a name, but perhaps it was some strange custom to wait a while on this planet. Who knows. Still, it made some foreign pride swirl in Kenny’s chest that he was the only one to name one of their alien friends. He made sure to rub it in the other crew members faces when one of them got too cocky.

All in all, his time with the pair felt nice. It felt good when Tweek gave a tinkling laugh, or when Eriss gave him an approving look for causing her small companion’s happiness.

At the call of a short guttural cry, the man lifted his head to break out of his thoughts and was met with the misty green eyes of the boy himself. His eyebrows were knit together, head swiveling this way and that as if he had just stole something. His hand clung tightly to Eriss, who glared down at Kenny with disdain. Despite the woman’s unhappy look and the child's unease, Kenny's face split into a grin and he prompted them to sit, patting the earth beside him.

Eriss gave no sign of moving, but Tweek slid his hand from hers and shuffled closer, breathing heavily as if he had just finished running an obstacle course. He did however plop down on the ground, knees pulled up close to his chest and making sure there were a few inches apart between the two of them. Kenny wasted no time in closing the distance though, wrapping an arm around the nymph to snuggle the child into his side.

A pretty pink blush bloomed along the boy's cheeks, but he kept quiet and made no move to disentangle himself from the human until a hiss from Eriss cut through the air.

“Do not touch him so casually,  _ human _ ,” she spat, rushing forward to immediately tear them apart from one another.

The man held his hands up in a show of peace, giving the woman a sheepish smile and a wink. She scowled in return, before turning her attention and muttering something to Tweek in their native, guttural tongue. Kenny waited patiently through the exchange, until the nymph boy finally gave a sharp hiss and Eriss threw her hands up in defeat. 

“So… Are you ready?” Kenny asked, smiling down at the child and rubbing soothing circles into his side. This time Eriss scoffed, but made no move towards them.

“No,” the boy shook his head, letting out an annoyed huff. “Play,” he demanded.

“We're here for learning dude, not playing,” the human cocked an eyebrow with a small smile.

Tweek huffed once more.

Kenny barked out a laugh while ruffling the strawberry blonde hair atop Tweek's head, earning him an angry squeak.

“Stop being so upset, pissbaby. We've got you mostly understanding English, now we just need you to speak more of it,” Kenny explained. “This is the easy part! Probably.” He flashed a toothy shit-eating grin and earned a scoff in return.

Eriss piped up then. “Our crude human friend is right, love. Since you've grasped an understanding of the words you're hearing now, English should be rather easy for you. They're terribly simple creatures, you know. Their language follows suit.”

Kenny decided to ignore that last comment.

The nymph child looked between the two of them, feeling rather dubious. Swatting the large blonde man’s hand away, Tweek turned his face away and mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?” Kenny prompted.

“No English,” was the only response along with an annoyed sigh.

“What?”

“No learn  _ English _ , only learn  _ stupid _ human language,” the nymph hissed at them.

The creature was glaring at Kenny with every angry fibre in his being, and yet still all the man could see was a fussy, cute kitten. A smile twitched at the corner of his lips, but he suppressed it so as not to annoy the boy further. He opened his mouth to speak but was surprised when a laugh rung out.

Eriss actually clutched at her stomach where she stood in front of them, a chortle coming from her that Kenny never expected to hear. Apparently it surprised Tweek as well, as his angry glaring at Kenny ceased and he watched Eriss, completely bewildered.

“Goodness, that’s my boy alright! Rebelling at every turn. Sometimes you begin to resemble me too closely, love,” she spoke lovingly to the boy as her laughter subsided.

The sweet moment turned bitter as Tweek glared at her. “Not like you.”

Kenny wanted to imagine that Tweek was merely stating that he’d like to be his own person, but the tension that suddenly sprung between the two nymphs as Eriss’ laughter fell off was something Kenny had _obviously_ missed the reason for. The blonde haired man coughed, feeling awkward.

“Alright, alright,” the man surrendered, hands up beside his head as he tried to diffuse the situation. “Are you ready for more stupid human language lessons then?”

The boy thought on it for a moment, a pout pulling on his face. Finally he gave a curt nod, seemingly content with his small victory. Eriss straightened her posture once more, turning her gaze away from them in a way that resembled pouting. Kenny laughed once more, glad they wouldn’t have to be hung up on the previously strange moment.

For some reason, it felt… Domestic. Like he was a father that had to keep the mother and child happy. Kenny had longed for a family, but upon finding out he was infertile and could have no kids of his own… There were a lot of reasons Kenny wanted to leave, but it was the final nail in the coffin that made him decide to take this voyage into space. One that he thought would be unfruitful, but had made him feel like he had more of a family than he ever did on Earth.

A feeling of gratefulness and adoration swept through Kenny’s heart so quickly he felt he may collapse under the emotion. He moved one of his hands down to card through the soft locks on Tweek's head while pulling him in to plant a soft kiss along the boy's brow. Hopefully the pair sorted through their fight quickly. Kenny wanted to be with them both forever.

The last of Tweek’s anger was immediately replaced with curiosity, his head tilting to the side and large green eyes staring up at his human teacher.

“What that?” He asked.

Kenny smiled, pressing a small kiss on Tweek once more, this time atop his head.

“First new word of the day! It's called a kiss,” the man explained.

Tweek thought on it for a moment before a shy smile touched his lips.

“K-iss,” he tried the words in his mouth. “Kiss is good.”

The small green boy flashed him a dazzling smile with that, and Kenny felt something in his heart clench at the sight. He wanted nothing more than for the child to be happy, to grow and learn and be content.

But when he stole a glance at Eriss, the warmth that rested in his belly immediately disappeared. She stared at them with wide eyes filled with longing, her mouth slightly agape. 

Kenny supposed he should have expected that. It must have always been just the two of them if the others had always been ignoring the pair. Tweek must have only had her for support, for learning, for affection. But then a human comes in and messes up the life Eriss was used to of the child always depending solely on her? Of course she was hurt.

Heaving a sigh, Kenny continued the lesson with the nymph boy, but soon found he no longer really had the heart for it. He tried to practice with the child for at least an hour everyday, but it was barely half an hour before the man was itching to run away from the situation.

“That’s it for today, buddy. I'm a bit tired,” Kenny lied smoothly.

The child nodded, getting to his feet as he dusted his knees off. Eriss was immediately upon them, offering her hand to the boy.

“I'll walk you home, love,” the nymph woman smiled at him.

“Name is Tweek,” the nymph child gently pressed her hand back to her, refusing with a tight smile and a shake of his head. 

When he spoke to Eriss next, he did so in their native language, but Kenny saw that it hurt the woman all the same. She stood there watching as the child left, and continued to stare even after he was gone.

“Uh, rebellious years maybe?” Kenny coughed and offered her a sheepish smile.

Her blue eyes finally turned to him and narrowed. Kenny figured that, like most times he tried to initiate conversation with her alone, she would essentially tell him to fuck off in the nicest way possible. But to his surprise she was suddenly sitting down next to him, scowling at the ground.

“I… We…,” she searched for the right words. “We had a fight.”

“I can see that.”

Her head whipped to the human with a growl before she attempted to stand.

“Wait,” he caught her wrist. “Sorry, sorry. I won't be a dick. Just talk to me,” Kenny gave his signature toothy grin, hoping it would work its charm.

The nymph woman stared daggers at him for a heartbeat before sitting once more, but not before she tore her wrist out of the human's grasp. The blonde waited patiently for her to begin, running his fingers through the grass once more.

“This morning, we… We fought about something from the past.”

Kenny waited for her to continue, but the woman went silent once more. He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he gingerly took her hand. He felt it was a good sign when she didn't immediately shove him away.

“Hey,” Kenny spoke softly to her. “Just talk. Spill it all out. I won’t judge you guys.”

Her normally lidded eyes were wide and piercing through his core. Eriss was searching him for something, rooting around in his soul. Finally she let her gaze fall, giving a curt nod. Kenny felt a squeeze to his hand.

“The child is still mad that I didn't name him,” she finally admitted. “After you gave him a name he seemed so happy I figured he would have let the matter go, but it seems his joy has subsided and let the bitterness back through.”

Kenny knit his brows together, confused. “Why _didn't_ you give him a name? You're his… Mother? Right? Older sister, maybe?”

Eriss shook her head. “The only mother is The Mother, the planet. I may have planted his seed with a piece of me but I’m only his mentor.”

“That kind of sounds like the exact definition of a mother to me though,” Kenny stated, dubious.

“You only feel that way because I'm the only one caring for him,” Eriss said with a small smile and shake of her head. “Under normal circumstances I would merely be his guidance, the one who planted him and keeps the closest eye on him, but the entire tribe would pitch in. Everyone would teach him our ways, our language… But…”

“But Tweek isn’t a normal circumstance, huh?” Kenny finished.

“No, he isn't,” she agreed, voice sad.

“Alright, so I get that part.” Kenny huffed. “But you didn’t tell me why you didn't name him-”

Kenny's speech stopped as memories and emotions that weren't his own crashed over him like a tidal wave. Tweek first unfazing from his tree and the horror the other nymphs felt. Eriss refusing to name him and the tears that her rejection caused. The first time the boy refused to hold her hand.

But all that Kenny could really feel flowing through her was guilt. Guilt that sat in her stomach constantly, gurgling uncomfortably everytime the boy was called  _ Tweek _ , a word of a language so foreign to her it made her skin crawl. Guilt at the fact that Eriss couldn't be happy for him, could only feel the constant shame she had now grown accustomed to.

When Eriss tore her hand from the human's clutch, the memories vanished along with the warmth she radiated. Kenny stared at the woman, wide eyed and confused.

“What… Did I just see?” He asked.

Eriss growled, but it seemed more at herself than at the question.

“Nymphs share a lot of information and emotion through touch rather than language,” she muttered. “I hate touching you humans, I have to pour my focus into keeping my thoughts as _mine._ It's… Easy to slip up.”

“Wait…,” a sudden thought struck the man. “Have you ever even called him by his  _ name _ ?”

“Of course not!” Eriss bristled. “It’s- It’s not even a name suited for our kind! It feels disgusting on my tongue! I’ll accept that he’s happier now that he has a name but… I just can’t call him that. I can’t.”

Kenny frowned at that. “So all of that is… Everything I saw, everything you said...  _ That’s  _ how you feel about Tweek's name?”

“What do you think?” She spat.

Kenny's jaw dropped before pressing into a hard line. “I don’t know why you were so against giving him a name, but now that he's got one, you should stop your pity party and be happy for him. I can’t believe you won’t even call him Tweek, you  _ know _ how much it would mean to him! Just how heartless are you?”

Eriss stood, eyes ablaze. “What happened to ‘I won’t judge you guys?’”

“Fuck that! I didn’t realize you were a complete asshole!”

“What? I-I’m not! I _wanted_ him to have a name! I... _I_ wanted to name him! I just… I can't! I couldn't!”

Kenny stood too, hands balled into fists at his side as he shouted right back.

“Well why the hell not? Is there some dumb rule? That kid doesn’t have a single person who likes him aside from the two of us, so who cares about any of that other stuff?”

“I do!” Eriss shrieked. “The others are my _sisters,_ my _family!_ I love them!”

“More than you love Tweek?”

Kenny was surprised when his cheek was struck, but more than that he was surprised by the emotion that Eriss accidentally shared through the brief touch. It was not rage or anger. It felt like she was falling apart, heart held together with fragile pride that was now failing her. She loved both Tweek and her people, and it was tearing her up. 

“You… You can't ask me to pick,” she choked out, stubbornly blinking back tears. “That child is my boy, my heart… But the others are my family. They're kind and loving and gentle, they're  _ good. _ ”

Kenny rubbed at his stinging cheek, glaring at the woman. He wanted to feel sorry for her, but he couldn't. 

“Do _good_ people shun a child that's done nothing wrong?” He seethed.

“Things aren't that black and white-”

“Yes they are!” The man shouted. “That kid fuckin’ loves you! So what- Your girlfriends would have been pissed if you gave him a name? Well guess what, it seems like they already hate your damn guts for taking care of him in the first place, may as well have drove the final nail in the coffin!”

“I’m telling you, it's not that simple,” Eriss cried back.

“Oh, it isn't?” Maybe he was being an asshole, but he couldn't stop, fueled by the rage he felt on behalf of Tweek. “Then tell me, what the hell would have changed?” Kenny needed her to keep feeling that shame. She deserved it.

Eriss stared at him, tears spilling over now that she still refused to acknowledge. Her hands and body shook, but she reminded herself of the reason she stuck around to talk anyways.

“For me, everything would have changed,” she choked out. “The Elder would have declared me as trying to break away from the tribe! She’s the only one that’s supposed to name our people. If I had went against that-”

“Oh, I get it,” Kenny growled. He was in her face now, jabbing a finger into her chest. “You’d be treated just like him, huh? You’d have the others saying shitty things about you behind your back and you and the other girls wouldn’t get to have your lil’ tea parties anymore? No matter how you look at it, that’s a shitty reason, Eriss.”

“I…,” she gulped, finally freezing as she allowed his words to sink in. “I guess it is,” Eriss stated quietly.

Her gaze was cast down at her feet now, the tears rolling from her cheeks and falling to the grass below. She looked tired and broken.

“I-I was selfish. I  _ wanted _ to be selfish,” she swallowed thickly. “Siding with that child took nearly every happiness I had away from me, and eventually he replaced it with a joy only he could bring, but… I still love my tribe. They’re all I’ve known, the only beings I’ve loved before. I hate feeling so torn to pick between them all the time,” Eriss finally began to attempt to wipe some of the tears, careful to keep the shake out of her voice. “You’re right. I don’t want to be treated like him. If I was treated the way he is I probably would have went back in my tree and curled up there to die. I’m not sure how he does it,” she admitted.

Kenny’s anger finally began to cool when he saw the proud woman looking so small, admitting her shortcoming. After all, who in their life hadn’t made selfish decisions? Heaving an annoyed sigh, he brought up a thumb to gently wipe some of the tears off her face. The nymph jolted slightly at the touch, before closing her eyes and allowing him to wipe away some of her sorrows.

“Why _did_ you side with Tweek?” He couldn’t help asking.

Eriss’ eyes fluttered open only to avert her gaze, shame washing over her once more. “You’ll just yell at me more if I tell you,” she whispered.

Shaking his head, the blonde man gave a small chuckle.

“Okay, forreal, this time I won’t be a dick,” he promised.

Eriss gave a weak smile back, wiping the last stray tear away. “If I wasn’t so desperate to get this all off my chest I would tell you to go screw yourself.”

“Fair.”

The smile on her face widened for a heartbeat before she looked crestfallen once more.

“There’s… An old story that my mentor told me. It’s an old tale, and many of the nymphs have forgotten it. Those that know of it… Well, there’s a lot of divided feelings about it.”

Kenny huffed. “That’s way too vague.”

Knowing he was right, Eriss sang the blonde the song she had sung to Tweek over a year ago, explaining the story to him just as she had to the nymph child. It felt strange to translate a song to the human language, her voice thick with tears as it cracked on some notes, but by the end she felt slightly better. She always felt better after singing.

“-So, when he unfazed from his tree and everyone saw he was a  _ boy _ , many thought that he was a bad omen. They still believe that, actually. And… And at the time, I thought so too.”

Kenny furrowed his brow. “What changed your mind?”

Her eyes lit up as she grasped Kenny’s hands, the most animated he had seen the woman since meeting her.

“I saw it with my own eyes! I saw that he was  _ special! _ ” She shouted, before letting out a breath and collecting herself once more. “Just like in the story with The Mother, he was ignored and treated poorly. Since I wouldn’t even speak to him myself at the time, he didn’t even know how to speak our language. Anyways… In one of the safe houses, where we keep endangered plants, I saw him. One of the most beautiful plants of this world was dying, the Oishi. He uprooted a bunch and grabbed them and then just started running off towards the ocean! I followed him, but even with me yelling at him he didn’t respond or slow down at all. Not until he made it to the water.”

“And then he just flung a bunch into the air! I was so angry I didn’t know what to do. But then, although he didn’t even have a language to string words with, he started singing the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. It… It made me feel like my heart was breaking. It was like he was crying for them, just a jumble of sobs and wails and  _ sorrow _ that actually sounded like it was meant for something. And it was! Nothing happened for a moment, but then they all started lighting up, one by one, making these little tinkling noises that just sounded so  _ right _ .”

Eriss laughed. “Turns out keeping the Oishi cooped up in a building is actually the wrong thing to do. They have to be outside so that every few years they can migrate over the ocean to gather the salt water. Then, after a long while, they come back and root themselves in the ground again! Even though we’ve lived here so long, we hardly have reason to go to the ocean and didn’t notice an issue until the plant was nearly dead, so we didn’t know how to take care of it and ended up just making it worse. But  _ he  _ knew what to do!”

Kenny raised an eyebrow at her excitement, pulling his hands from hers to swipe down his tired face. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the kid, but… What, he’s a great gardener or something? That’s what’s so special?”

Eriss shook her head, sapphire eyes still bright. “He _revived_ it! After he uprooted them… I could see it, they were shriveled up things, their roots gone and without salt water for a long time. They were dead, human. And _he_ brought them back,” she whispered. “I’ve seen it other times too. This world reacts to his voice like no other nymph. Sure, the rest of us have to speak with most of the vegetation to get food, and there’s some fungi that light up when you step upon them, but… With him, it’s so much _more._ He simply hums and it’s like the whole world comes to life!” Her eyes were alight as if she was one of the things Tweek had sung his soul into, but her large grin fell, a sadness passing over her features. “I feel like a fool for not having noticed sooner, but after observing him I realized we were thinking about it the wrong way. He’s not an omen to bring harsh times upon us. I think… I think he’s supposed to _protect_ us. Our people, this whole _planet_ …,” she trailed off, looking for the words before shaking her head. “I just know he’s not here without reason.”

The blonde listened to her quietly, nodding at her words and allowing the information to sink in. It made sense. After hearing what had happened to the first boy, he could either be considered someone important to their Mother or as a threat, and it was obvious which route the women had decided on. But with abilities like that, it was hard to believe their minds hadn’t changed along with Eriss’.

“Do the others know about his powers? Maybe they wouldn’t hate him so much,” Kenny scratched at the back of his head, brow creased.

Eriss pulled a face at that. “Somewhat? They know, but the meaning of it has never sunk in with them. I tried to tell The Elder about it when I saw him revive the Oishi, but she initially refused to believe me. Even after a few others saw him revive some small flowers and watched other plants react to his voice, they wrote it off as more of his defective body. Even if his power is amazing, since they believe he is a defect,  _ everything  _ different about him is written off as such,” she let out a sigh. “I’ve tried to change their minds, but it obviously hasn’t gotten me very far.”

Kenny hummed in understanding, not sure what else she could do. It didn’t seem there was any easy solution to their problem.

“So…,” the man stopped short of asking his question, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

“So?” Eriss asked impatiently.

He heaved a sigh. “You said you think he’s supposed to protect you guys. What… Do you think he’s supposed to protect you from?” Kenny asked quietly.

The nymph woman leaned back, running a hand through her hair with an exasperated puff of air.

“Nymphs do not die of natural causes as your people do. So, I think you already know the answer to that, human.”

The man nodded. He couldn’t blame her. Hell, he had been running away from his problems  _ and  _ humans himself when he decided to come here. But, he wanted to make one thing clear.

“Eriss… I definitely see where you’re coming from, and I can’t make any promises about the rest of the guys. But… I won’t ever hurt you guys,” he said softly. “I love you and Tweek more than I’ve ever loved anything. So you’ll have one more protector, okay?” Kenny gave a little lopsided smile.

She stared at him, an extremely faint blush crawling up her neck. Eriss turned her gaze away, growling softly, but her voice held no actual heat.

“F-Fine, do whatever you want, human.”

Kenny’s grin widened as he sauntered closer, leaning his head down to catch her eyes and gave a shit eating grin.

“Aw, don’t be like that, you can cry in front of me some mo-”

He was abruptly cut off as the nymph shoved him away, pushing him to fall on his behind. Kenny let out a chortle, calling after her as the woman began to walk away.

“Come on, Eriss! We just had a heart to heart, you should be a little more kind! Stop calling me human and come give me some sugar!” He shouted, teasing her.

To his surprise, Eriss did stop. Still faced away from him, he could barely hear her as she spoke quietly.

“I do appreciate your… Time. Thank you, Kenny.”

With that she was began walking off once more, but the man didn’t miss the small tremor in her voice or the red hue that barely touched the tips of her ears.

He let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head.

_ You should do the same for the one it actually matters to. _

Still, someone who had felt so far away from him suddenly felt a lot closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof I love writing arguments hope you like reading 'em lmao


	8. Prelude to a Dream

_ Approx Year 3500 _

_ Craig _

 

Craig sat cross legged on the ground along a riverbank, plucking various tiny flowers, making sure to grab an assortment of colors. He hummed a little tune, a habit he was picking up from Tweek that was a lot less endearing when the human did it.

When there was suddenly shade protecting him from the scalding sun, he stopped his task to peer up at the nymph standing over him.

“Keep standing right there,” the man sighed happily.

Tweek gave a crooked smile before sliding to the side, causing the sun to beat down on Craig once more.

“Dude, come on,” the raven whined.

The green boy let out a soft laugh before kneeling down next to the man, wrapping his arms around his knees. He watched intently as Craig continued his mission once more.

“Bored,” Tweek huffed after a while.

“Want to pick flowers with me?”

The nymph didn’t say anything, but after a moment he fell back onto his butt, gathering up some of the blossoms at his feet. They worked in relative silence for a few minutes, until they both had a tiny pile by their sides. Even for a task as simple as flower picking, their projects were very different. Craig’s pile was full of a random jumble of colors and flowers of differing sizes, some of them pulled up with bits of their stems and their petioles still attached. Tweek’s pile was only full of tiny blooms with soft pastel colors, a few shades lighter than the hue of the flowers twisted within his vines. They were all also meticulously separated from their roots with the help of his sharp nails, no stems or leaves left to cling to the petals.

“You’re oddly particular,” Craig pointed out with a click of his tongue.

Tweek merely shrugged, a faint grin on his face. “I like clean and I like quiet color,” he stated simply.

The human raised an eyebrow before dismissing it with a shrug himself, and made to continue until a sudden thought struck him. He dropped the blossoms he was holding in horror, shooting Tweek a panicked look.

“Wait, wait!” He shouted. The nymph jumped at his tone, attention honing in on Craig as the man continued. “Are we like... Are we hurting the plants? Oh _shit,_ I didn’t even think about it dude, aw hell-”

Tweek let out a surprised laugh, an unflattering snort leaving the back of his throat. His hands quickly clamped over his mouth, eyes filled with mirth as he still giggled and shook his head.

“What!?” Craig shrieked in surprise. “But… Dude… I dunno, you’re a nymph, and you talk and sing to shit all the time, and you said you saved a flower? So like, I dunno,” he threw up his hands in frustration. “I thought you would be all like ‘love the planet’ and shit like that.”

The nymph tilted his head to the side as his hands fell from his face. “I _do_ love planet. But… It just flower?” If it were possible, Tweek looked as if he would be sprouting question marks from his body rather than plants.

“Oh,” the man said dully. “I thought you would be like… Spiritual, or something. One with the planet, you know?”

The green boy puffed out a small laugh again. “I understand,” he assured the man. “I do love planet. Flower is pretty. We can borrow, they okay with it - we just lend hand if them need. So I will help them sometimes, okay? Stop worry.”

“Alright,” Craig nodded. “That’s kinda the spiritual shit I was expecting,” he added with a grin.

Tweek just smiled as he shook his head again, leaning into the human. Craig jumped a little at the unexpected contact before wrapping his arm around the alien, heart rate picking up to feel as if it was beating a million miles a minute. The human breathed deeply, willing the damned thing to stop slamming against his ribcage.

After their chat the night of Oishitanza, this closeness was becoming commonplace, and the man felt torn between loving the contact and hating his own reactions. The human had no prior experience with intimacy outside of his family, but it seemed to come naturally. As natural as it used to feel when he kissed his mother’s head, or blew a raspberry into his sister’s cheek. But, although the movement felt natural, the panic that shot through his body while doing so was completely new. Simply holding hands was beginning to make him feel as if he had run a marathon. Even if closeness was something Craig enjoyed, it was becoming a genuine concern of his that he might also drop dead from it.

But he and Tweek had begun their relationship with too much contact already, and it was just getting worse, or better depending on how you looked at it. There was always something - an extra touch on the arm before they parted at night, a gentle kiss pressed into his cheek. Just a ton of tiny fleeting moments that made his stomach squirm while simultaneously filling with warmth.

He wasn’t an idiot. His parents had told him and his sister about love and feelings and all of that ooey gooey froo froo shit. Craig had just never expected himself to start having those feelings, especially not for a boy or an alien, and much less both.

On some level, he felt it was wrong. Tweek wasn't the same species as him, hell, they weren't even born on the same planet. It was already strange enough that they were friends and communicated with one another - it would be a whole other situation if one of them was to _like_ the other.

But on an entirely different level, Craig also felt like feelings couldn’t be wrong. Who cared if they were from different planets? They were on this one together now, and the joy he felt with Tweek _couldn't_ be a bad thing.

However, it didn’t feel like it mattered much anyways. Feelings were meaningless when they were one sided, and it would be silly to push his luck and try for anything more. Craig was happy here, content to just be alive with Tweek at his side.

Sadly, that didn’t fix the issue at hand. With Tweek being unaware of how much his contact was affecting Craig, the man was forced to act casual while his heart threatened to leap out of his chest. At times, like now, it felt horribly tiring.

Craig gave one last rub to Tweek's shoulder before extracting himself from the nymph, standing to dust himself off. The green boy looked up in confusion, leaping to his feet as well to stand beside the human.

“What wrong?” Tweek asked, hand reaching to comfort the man.

Craig smoothly dodged the contact, crouching down to stretch his legs and pretend he wasn’t just avoiding the green skin that would surely send an electrifying thrill through his body.

“Nothing,” he lied with a smile as he stood once more, turning away and stretching his arms now. “I'm just a little tired, I think I'll head back to the ship and just-”

This time he couldn't dodge the quick hand that gripped his arm so tightly he winced, effectively cutting off his speech. Craig craned his head back, eyebrows knit together as he studied the nymph’s face, and immediately he knew he made a mistake.

Tweek was staring at him with wide eyes, hurt etched into his features. His sharp nails pierced into the man’s skin, blood welling beneath the green fingers, but Tweek didn’t even seem to notice, only gripping tighter.

“You promise,” the nymph sounded furious. “You _said._ Why lie? Why everyone always _lie-_?”

“Hey, hey, shh,” Craig shushed the green boy, kneeling in front of him to bring their heights closer together.

Tweek still held his arm painfully tight, but the man ignored it as he ran his free hand over the nymph’s cheek. There were tears welling up in those misty green eyes, but Tweek’s face was scrunched up in anger, refusing to openly cry even when Craig could see the little hiccups shaking his body.

“I’m not leaving,” the man tried to reassure him. “I just lived in that ship for a long time, sometimes it feels like home. I wanted to go there and think about some things.”

“Think with me. You say this you home now. Lie?” Tweek asked angrily.

Craig could sense there was no bite behind it, only fear. He gave a wry smile and a small nod.

“No lie. You’re right. This is my home now, don’t worry,” the man easily agreed. “But it’s like… How you go ‘home’ at night and you like to keep it private. It’s my home away from home! I seriously won’t just take off, I promise.”

Tweek shook his head. “Let me come,” he demanded, worry shaking his voice.

Craig felt a twinge of guilt, cursing his word choice that ended up causing his companion this much concern without reason in the first place. Just like the night of Oishitanza, he felt like Tweek’s thoughts and emotions were in his head, and he could feel the nymph’s worry as clearly as he could feel the bite of Tweek’s nails digging underneath his skin. Inside of the creature there was no actual anger, just the fear of abandonment, and an ancient anger at old broken promises.

“Okay,” Craig finally caved. So much for alone time to sort through his feelings. “I’ll give you a little tour and we can just hang out there together, okay?”

The nymph visibly calmed, a relieved sigh passing his lips as he nodded. Finally Tweek released his grasp on the human’s arm, lifting his hand to swipe at the wetness on his cheeks. He stopped just short of touching his skin, noting the blood beneath his fingers before catching sight of Craig’s arm. A distressed shriek was yanked from the creature as he dove to grab the tanned arm once more, taking care to be much more gentle this time.

“Craig, I sorry- I… Gah!” Tweek was looking up at the man with large doe eyes, filled to the brim with tears that added a wet sheen to them. “I not try to hurt, I-I not notice…”

The human shook his head and quieted the nymph once more, pressing a soft kiss to Tweek’s temple before he even realized what he was doing. With a sigh, Craig jerked a thumb towards the riverbed, signaling for Tweek to follow as his arm was finally freed once more.

They sat on some of the rocks littered near the water’s edge, Tweek watching with wide eyes and urging Craig to go first. The man shook his head at the nymph’s worry, shuffling forward on his knees to gently submerge his arm in the water. It stung a little at first and he winced, a little hiss leaving gritting past his teeth. The creature’s eyebrows knit closer together as he stumbled over to Craig, sniffling all the while.

“Dude, stop freaking out,” the man sighed again. “It’s not bad at all.”

The nymph pressed his face into the human’s shoulder and gave a little nuzzle, rubbing his teary face all over the man’s tanned skin. Craig might have laughed if he didn’t think it might upset Tweek more. He didn’t particularly mind as this sort of thing used to be something common with Tricia, but he still felt like he was coddling a child.

“I like you,” Tweek sniffed. Craig’s face immediately burned at the haphazard confession, yanking his arm from the water to fall back on his butt.

“Wha- Who just says that out of nowhere?” The man sputtered.

“You so nice and- and calm. I scared always, over everything,” the nymph said sadly as he wiped his face with the back of his hands.

“Still, that... Y-You’re an embarrassing guy, you know?” Craig tried to ignore the hammering of his heart picking up once more as he grabbed Tweek’s wrist, leading him to caress the water and hopefully wash out some of the blood. “You can’t just say the first thing that pops in your mind all the time.”

Another sniff. “Why not? I like you,” he repeated.

“Dude! Stop saying that!”

“But it true. Why stop?”

“Because you’re going to kill me,” Craig groaned and finally released the nymph’s wrist. At least Tweek was finally washing the blood off himself.

The human fell onto his back, ignoring the way the rocks were digging into his skin. The blush on his cheeks felt like it was heating up his entire body now. But of course, Tweek wasn’t giving him a moment to recollect himself, as the creature was climbing on top of his body, looming over the man with fear in his eyes.

“Please no die,” he said quickly, wet fingers fretting over the human’s face.

He might as well give in. Craig had tried to get away to calm his heart and sort through his thoughts, but instead his efforts had ended up with Tweek on his body in a very questionable position and his heart still attempting to leap from his chest.

“I won’t die. Just… Give me a moment,” Craig said, finally admitting defeat.

Tweek smoothed a hand over Craig’s hair before nuzzling his cheek against the raven’s neck, settling down to curl cutely on the man’s body. Their bodies this close together, the human could feel that the nymph’s pulse was also quick, and for some reason it calmed the erratic feeling in his chest.

Eventually Craig brought his arms up to envelop the creature in a warm hug, basking in the happiness it brought him. There was no reason to be feel panicked or scared, not even of his own feelings. Tweek had promised that they would always be together, and if today was any evidence, Craig got the feeling that the nymph did not take those words lightly.

“Alright,” the man finally said, patting Tweek’s back to get his attention. “Let’s head out. For once, I can show _you_ something cool!”

Tweek finally sat up, giving a wide grin that lit up his face before sliding his body off the human.

They stood together, Craig pointing out the direction they needed to walk in. For once he was the one leading the way, but still they walked side by side, hands sliding into each other with ease. Exactly where they were supposed to be.

 

\---

 

“What this?” Tweek cocked his head to the side, holding the extra helmet in the ship. Probably the one that had been meant for Tricia.

Craig groaned. Good god did he love Tweek, but the creature had taken to grabbing nearly everything he could get his hands on before proceeding to interrogate the human.

“It’s a helmet,” the man informed him. _Might as well tell him what it does, since he’ll ask anyways._ “You wear different kinds to protect you from different things. That one makes it easier to withstand pressure changes when you breech atmospheres and also makes it so you don’t snap your head against shit at the same time.” He pointed to his own head. “Gotta protect the goods.”

“Ohh,” the nymph said in awe. “Was… Nymph planet atoe-mo-here bad?”

Craig barked out a laugh before shrugging his shoulders. “I have no damn clue, I was asleep through the whole thing. At the time I had figured if I was asleep I didn’t have to feel hungry.”

Tweek frowned, nodding thoughtfully before pressing his long fingers to the human’s exposed belly. He rubbed it gently before moving up to press softly against the ribs that were still showing through a bit, touching the man as if he were made of glass. The raven frowned a little.

“I’m not going to break,” Craig joked, swatting the green boy’s hand away.

“Good,” was the simple reply.

Tweek continued to walk around at the base of the ship, letting out little puffs of surprised air at various things - the strange buttons and screen on the control panel, the coolness of the metal beneath his feet, the sturdy shell of the ship, one of the minor lights that was no longer working without the dark matter from space to act as fuel and energy. Craig had opted to hoist himself up into one of the raised seats in the middle of the ship, sighing at the comfort of a real chair with actual support as opposed to sitting in the dirt. He was content to rest there with his eyes closed, hands folded along his chest, the only sounds being Tweek rummaging around and having a great little exploration period.

Light poured in from the open hatch and the tiny window, warming the ship but not making it too hot. Craig may have fallen asleep if not for the long skinny fingers that were soon tugging at his toes. The man peeked downwards to see Tweek fiddling with his feet while one arm was stretched upwards.

“Craig, help up? Want to see,” the nymph tried a tiny jump, obviously not getting anywhere.

The human braced his legs around the pole holding his chair up, extending both of his arms down towards the creature. Tweek lifted his own above his head, allowing Craig to get a good grip below his elbows to hoist the nymph up. There was a little screech of delight as Tweek eagerly climbed over him to rest in the next seat, knees folded beneath him and hands gripping the top of the chair to look around. His head swiveled this way and that, examining all the ship had to offer.

“Cool,” Tweek chirped. “Much to see!”

Craig smiled at his carefree joy, shaking his head. “Did you never get to see the old human's ship?”

“Oh, no,” The nymph's eyes went wide, shaking his head side to side. “Outside yes, never inside. Most old human dangerous.”

“Oh?” Craig frowned. He furrowed his brow, staring into his lap as he thought aloud. “I wonder what the hell they came for, or why there wasn't anything recorded in history about it. Dad would have told me if people ever found life on another planet…”

Tweek shrugged, losing interest as he lost track of what Craig was saying. He continued to examine the ship, letting out a tiny gasp as he saw a compartment that was sure to hold more wonders.

“Craig, what that?” He pointed at his new find.

“That's where I used to sleep,” Craig waved him off. “There's not really much in there except some piss poor pillows.”

Tweek still leaned down and across the ship to grab the handle of the cabinet-like sleeping quarters, pulling it open and quickly scrambling in. He sang a happy coo at the soft cushions, much fluffier than most things he had felt before.

Rolling along the pillows, Tweek stopped when he heard a slight crumple. He shifted his body off of whatever he had laid on, reaching beneath the makeshift bed to retrieve a strange sheet.

Tweek poked his head out of the cabinet, waving around the paper in his hand.

“Craig, what this?”

The man heaved out an exasperated sigh, turning his attention over to Tweek with an expression that did nothing to hide the inconvenience of all this. But when he realized what the nymph was holding, his eyes went wide, snatching the paper from the creature's grasp as he quickly hugged it to his chest.

“Don't play with that!” He shouted, smoothing out the edges to make sure the note was safe. No tears were visible, and he let out a breath of relief.

Tweek had shrunk back, cowering at the human's raised voice. Craig had never yelled at him before.

The human finally seemed to realize his mistake, scrambling over to the edge of the seat closest to the nymph. He reached out a hand, heart twitching with hurt at the way Tweek flinched away from his touch.

“I'm sorry, Tweek, I didn't mean to shout,” Craig spoke low, his nasally voice calm. “This paper is important thing to me… I-I got scared, I'm sorry,” he pressed on, spouting out excuses.

The creature didn’t flinch away from his touch this time, but he still looked so horribly sad.

“Will you please come here?” Craig pleaded.

Tweek paused for a time, before quietly hoisting himself up onto the chair. Craig quickly deposited the paper back into the sleeping quarters, and afterwards he wasted no time in gathering the nymph in his arms, holding him as one would a child. At first Tweek let out what must have been a growl in protest, but quieted once the human began running his fingers through the unruly blonde hair.

“Why is… Paper important?” Tweek asked softly.

Craig’s hand stilled.

“You know how I told you the stars were my favorite? I… I used to think about nothing else but seeing those little lights.” He extended one hand up towards the sky as if to touch one, hidden by the light of day, before letting it fall back in his lap. “I was obsessed with them, and when I finally saw them, I thought I'd never see anything more beautiful than that, or feel as hurt as I did in that moment.”

Tweek's eyebrows knit together as he shifted and placed a hand over the man’s chest. Craig covered it with his own and held it tight like a lifeline, rubbing a rough calloused thumb over the smooth green skin of his companion.

“Why… Hurt?”

The raven looked away, biting down hard on his lip to will the taste of blood flooding his mouth to overtake the overwhelming urge to cry. God, he had cried so much lately. He was such a fucking wimp.

“There was no one else,” Craig's voice cracked near the end, yet he pressed on. “All I had known was my family’s love and a dream to see the stars, and I… I lost both of them at once. That note was left to me from my father, explaining what him and my mother did so I could be out in space. It’s the last bit I have of my family, and I can’t let anything happen to it.”

“Oh,” Tweek muttered. His hand clenched over Craig’s heart. “S-Sorry… For… Hurting it.”

Craig smiled and shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I overreacted anyways.” His smile fell and a sigh escaped his lips as the man allowed his head to rest against Tweek’s. “It’s just unfair. They’re probably gone forever, but I’m still here.”

The creature didn’t respond, and they simply held each other in the horrible quiet of the ship. Despite the light flooding in, it did not change the fact that this metal creation was a cold and unfeeling thing. It had been Craig’s cage for 13 years. He had considered it home, for he had nothing else to turn to find comfort in for so long, but perhaps he should rethink that. In this cage Craig had realized he was completely and utterly alone, and in this cage he had been trapped to relive his regrets until this planet had freed him.

“Yes,” the nymph finally agreed quietly. “It so unfair…”

His eyes were somewhere else again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a slow chapter, but still important! Next chapter has been rather fun to write out so far though.
> 
> See you in two weeks! <3


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